The Minnewaska Area boys soccer team has a new coach and that’s a big deal when you consider that the only previous coach for the program was Ted Hill, who retired last season after serving as coach for 27 years.

Hill, who was selected the Section 8A Coach of the Year seven times and the State Class “A” Coach of the Year in 2021, compiled an overall record of 186-192-23.

David Vinje takes over the helm of the program, but he’s not new to soccer or to the Minnewaska Area soccer program.  Vinje was one of the assistants on the team last year, serving with Tony Feigum, Manford Foster and Jarrid Jergenson.  He previously has served as head boys coach at Alexandria for at least two seasons and the head girls coach at Willmar for three years.

The soccer team is set to open up the season at 3 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24 at home against Fergus Falls followed by another home game two days later at 11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 26, against Heritage Christian.

The Lakers are coming off an 7-8 season from a year ago, a season in which the team also went 5-4 in the Granite Ridge Conference.  St. Cloud Cathedral won last year’s Granite Ridge title with an 8-0 league mark, followed by Little Falls (8-2), Minnewaska (5-4), St. John’s Prep (2-6), Zimmerman (1-4) and Melrose Area (0-8).

Minnewaska Area ended its season with a 2-0 loss to Prinsburg in the opening round of the Section 8A Boys Soccer Tourney.

The Lakers started out 0-3 and 2-5 before turning things around and going 5-3 over their final eight games

The Lakers stay in Section 8A for at least the next two years, but the section became a little harder when East Grand Forks was added to make a 10-team section, which also includes the likes of Prinsburg CMCS, Fergus Falls, Pelican Rapids, Crookston and St. Cloud Cathedral.

Last year, the MVP’s of the team, selected at the conclusion of the season, were seniors Aaron Feigum and Genaro Contreras Mondragon.  They were among 10 seniors lost from last year’s team.

The other seniors lost to graduation included Alicia Boysen, Paige Boysen, Brooke Kolstoe, Rhet Kuehne, Caleb Mahoney, Noah Palmer, Preston Martin and Dalton Peterson.

•  In statistics from last year, the top three scorers for the Lakers were Blake Nelson, Aaron Feigum and Genaro Contreras Mondragon.  Feigum had a team-high 16 points on seven goals and nine assists, while Contreras Mondragon had eight goals and five assists, and Nelson tied with Mondragon for the team lead in goals with eight while also adding two assists.

In goal last season was Tenzin Dahl, who had 121 saves on 149 shots on goal for a save percentage of 81 percent with four shutouts and a goals-against average of 2.0.

•  Minnewaska Area earned its seven wins last year over St. John’s Prep (twice), Melrose Area (twice), Rocori, Pelican Rapids and Zimmerman.

Minnewaska Area won four games last season by one goal and also lost two matches by one goal. 

•  Selected as the Most Improved players were Tenzin Dahl and Noah Palmer, while earning the Midfielders of the Year award were Aaron Feigum and Connor Quelle, and selected for the Defenders of the Year award were Thomas Poegel, Noah Palmer and Ethan Curry.

Earning the Offensive Player of the Year award was Genaro Contreras Mondragon, selected as the Rookies of the Year were Ryan Greseth, Preston Martin and Connor Erickson, and earning the Comeback Players of the Year honor were Caleb Mahoney and Dalton Peterson.

•  Five members of the Minnewaska Area boys soccer team also earned conference honors following the completion of the 2022 season.

Seniors Aaron Feigum and Genaro Contreras Mondragon, along with junior Blake Nelson, were named to the Granite Ridge All-Conference team, while senior Noah Palmer and junior Connor Quelle were named to the honorable mention team.  In addition, Feigum was also named to the All-State second team.

The Lakers have had 17 first or second-team All-State players over the past 27 seasons and the team has won the State Team Academic Championship seven times in 27 seasons.

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