South Does it Again
The Owatonna High School girls soccer team lost 2-0 at Lakeville South in the Section 1AA semifinals Thursday, ending the Huskies' season. The South boys topped OHS 2-1 two days prior in the section quarterfinals.
Thursday's semifinal was moved up to an early start with the hope of getting the match in before the rain, but coach Nate Gendron said it started raining right around the start of the game. It rained heavily at times. Gendron said keeping ball control was difficult in the wet conditions with a wet ball. South capitalized on a first-half opportunity. The Huskies put on some pressure as well.
Gendron said the Huskies continued to play hard even after the Cougars went up 2-nil in the second half, "Our girls continued fighting until the end. We were able to put some pressure on them." The Huskies end the season with a 10-7-1 record.
It was easy for Gendron to find highlights of the season, "Compared to last year, our record was better, we were able to clinch the Big Nine title. Overall it was a successful year for us."
The ten seniors on the roster include Samantha Fredin, Emilee Zirngible, Josie Sullivan, Erin Holzerland, Kaia Elstad, Asia Buryska, Gabriela Breuer, Tatum Walkingstick, Karingtan Stanford, and Malaika Young. Buryska has committed to play Division II college soccer at Bemidji State University. Gendron says a few others are looking into playing in college as well.
Top-seed South will face sixth-seed New Prague in Tuesday's finals. The Trojans have upset Rochester Century and Farmington this week.
On the boys' side, Lakeville South knocked out top-seed Farmington and will go to second-seed Rochester Mayo Tuesday, October 15 in the section final.