Mahtomedi, the reigning Class 2A state girls soccer champion, began its quest to repeat in Tuesday night’s quarterfinal with a 3-0 win over Grand Rapids with three second-half goals.
The Thunderhawks went toe-to-toe with the Zephyrs in the first half. But Mahtomedi broke through the low block, and the Zephyrs’ first goal unleashed the floodgates.
A windy, rainy Tuesday night at Forest Lake High School set up a defensive battle between the 11-time state champion Mahtomedi and state tournament debutants Grand Rapids.
Mahtomedi head coach Dave Wald said the weather played a role in the match.
“I’ve coached for 35 years. This might be the worst night, maybe the second,” Wald said.
It took 33 minutes of game action to get the first shot on goal for either side. Mahtomedi managed only two shots on goal in the first 40 minutes.
The Thunderhawks defended resiliently, holding the reigning state champions at bay at the half.
After a flurry of Mahtomedi early second-half chances, senior Oona Lienke used her defender as a shield and curled a shot towards the bottom corner. Grand Rapids senior goalkeeper Rylee Major dove to her left and pushed it wide and behind.
Poirier whipped in the ball from the ensuing corner, and the ball landed at Lienke’s feet after a scrum inside the six-yard box. Lienke rocketed the shot into the roof of the net to give Mahtomedi a 1-0 lead about 15 minutes into the second half.
Lienke said she wanted to make something happen with her first chance on net, but capitalized on the second opportunity.
“I was just looking for the back of the net and making sure that the other players didn’t have a chance to kick it out,” Lienke said.
With 22 minutes to play, Mahtomedi junior midfielder Anneliese Ulschmid yanked a shot that was going wide of the net, but a wicked deflection by a Grand Rapids defender pushed it past Major, making it 2-0.
Mahtomedi sophomore midfielder Adalyn Beulke blasted an effort from long range right by Major for the Zephyrs’ third goal with 14:28 left.
A 3-0 lead proved too large a mountain to climb for the Thunderhawks and kept the Zephyrs’ pursuit of back-to-back state titles alive.
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