When her team needed her most, Skylyn Jorgenson was there Tuesday night.

The senior forward scored Andover’s first goal on a shot from around 35 yards out early in the second half, then after two scoreless overtimes, she got the shootout started with another goal as the fourth-seeded Huskies held off fifth-seeded Eagan 2-1 (4-1 in penalty kicks) in a Class 3A girls soccer state quarterfinal at a cold and rainy White Bear Lake Area High School North Campus Stadium.

“I’m just glad my team pushed through with all we had,” said Jorgenson, whose team (12-4-2) advances to face the winner of today’s quarterfinal between top-seed Edina (19-0) and unseeded St. Michael-Albertville (12-6-1), scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Farmington High School.

That semifinal matchup will begin at 8 a.m. next Tuesday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“She’s quite the player,” Huskies coach Tracey Griess said of Jorgenson. “She’s been on our squad since she was a freshman. Unfortunately, she was hurt at the beginning of her sophomore and junior years. But she’s a senior now and it’s just all coming together.”

The Wildcats were playing with a backup goalkeeper after a red card midway through the first overtime forced senior starter Natalie Valiga from the game.

Classmate Caitlin Allred entered and kept things scoreless through a second overtime despite the fact her team was playing one player down.

But, Jorgenson, sophomore forward Addie Dobratz, senior midfielder Lauren Wright and senior forward Brenna Hudson each had goals for the Huskies in the shootout while senior goalkeeper Haley Mau stopped two of the three shots she faced.

“When our goalie had to go out, that really changed a lot,” said Eagan coach Qassim Ilmi, whose team finished its season 13-4-2. “Our other goalie was not expecting to play. Now we had to put in someone who didn’t really have a chance to warm up, and who hadn’t really played in the past couple of games. That’s a lot to ask of her.”

Jorgenson put her team on the board first with her goal early in the second half. From there, the game settled back into a scoreless stalemate until Eagan junior Kylee Weisendanger was finally able to tie the score with 6:06 remaining.

Andover had a golden chance to score when Dobratz was tripped up on a breakaway with 5:33 to go in overtime, resulting in the red card on Valiga.

She was forced to exit and Allred came on to face a free kick from senior Dayna Stocke, which sailed just wide of the net and the Huskies were unable to redirect.

Then, just under two minutes later, Andover was granted another free kick that also missed just wide, keeping things tied at one.

Despite their one-player advantage, the Huskies couldn’t generate many offensive chances in the second overtime, which ended with the two teams still tied 1-1 – bringing on a shootout to settle things.

And there, Andover got the job done.

“We’ve been practicing,” said Griess, whose team is back at state for the first time since 2017. “Last year, we lost on PKs in the section semifinals and we didn’t want that to happen again. So we were prepared.”

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In an effort to increase reporting on mail service problems in her district, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig has introduced legislation to increase transparency of the U.S. Postal Service.

The bill requires the postal service ot notify customers of undelivered and partially delivered routes by zip codes, according to a news release sent out by Craig, with the goal being to keep customers informed of when they can expect deliveries or delays.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn. (Courtesy of the candidate)

As Minnesotans continue to experience slow delivery, additional public reporting would help increase transparency and accountability for sub-par service from USPS. More information on the bill can be found at craig.house.gov/

Last winter Craig asked for comment from constituents on the issue and received more than 3,000 complaints involving lack of communication, lost items and delays.

“For months, my constituents have been left wondering when their mail – their prescription medications, notes from loved ones, small business checks – will be delivered. This bill will help Minnesotans get timely and accurate information when it comes to their mail delivery, and will help hold USPS accountable for poor delivery service. I’ll keep working to improve postal service here in the South Metro,” Craig said in a statement.

Craig also has called on U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to consider opening a Post Office to serve Lakeville and Farmington.

Last December Craig and U.S. Sen. amy Klobuchar noted problems with mail delivery in the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities.

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By Kate Ashford | NerdWallet

Open enrollment is no one’s idea of a good time, but health coverage is a crucial part of your financial health. Whether you’re getting insurance through an employer or the Affordable Care Act marketplace, it’s important to ask the right questions before you choose a health plan for 2024.

“Open enrollment is a great time to do a personal health audit,” says certified public accountant Charlene Rhinehart, a personal finance editor at drug savings site GoodRx. “Understanding your current and anticipated health care needs will help you decide which plan is the best fit.”

Here’s how to weigh your options.

Are your doctors in network?

Plan networks change from year to year. If you love your doctor or specialist, make sure they’re still in the network of the plan you’re considering for 2024.

You should also consider whether you want the option to go out of the network — which you can usually do in a preferred provider organization, or PPO, plan, although it will cost more. Health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, tend to be cheaper but lack the out-of-network flexibility.

Are your medications covered?

If you’re on prescription medications, check plan formularies to make sure you understand how your drugs will be covered in 2024. Drug coverage can change from year to year, even if you stick with the same plan.

“Even if you were in an Aetna plan before, and you say, ‘Well, I’ll stay with Aetna again,’ you still want to look and make sure the medication you’re taking is still on the formulary,” says Abbie Leibowitz, chief medical officer and co-founder of Health Advocate, which provides integrated health advocacy and health benefits programs.

What are the out-of-pocket costs?

Every plan has set costs, like the monthly premiums, plus the costs of care, which include the deductible and any copays and coinsurance. Comparing plans means estimating how much health care you’ll use next year.

On the one hand, you have the costs you’d pay if you don’t use the plan much beyond preventive care. On the other hand, you have the maximum amount you could pay in each plan if you’re a heavy health care user. You can easily compare these situations.

There’s a squishy middle ground, however, where the best plan for you depends on the amount and type of care you’ll need next year.

“The tricky part is we never really know how much we’re going to spend in a given year if we’re in the middle,” says Adam Rosenfeld, a health care benefits expert and president of employee benefits company Rubicon Benefits. The best thing, he says, is to look at your current claims information and imagine that the next year will be identical. On which plan would you be better off?

“It’s the best predictive modeling you can do at this point,” Rosenfeld says.

Is a high-deductible plan right for you?

A high-deductible health plan, or HDHP, in 2024 is defined as a plan with a deductible of at least $1,600 for individual coverage or $3,200 for family coverage, with out-of-pocket maximums of no more than $8,050 or $16,100, respectively. HDHPs usually have lower premiums, and sometimes companies kick in a contribution to a health savings account, or HSA, to help cover the deductible.

An HDHP can be an appropriate plan for people in a variety of health situations, as long as they’re prepared to pay the deductible if they need health care.

“The question is, ‘Can you afford it?’” says Adria Gross, an insurance broker, consultant and founder of MedWise Insurance Advocacy, which helps clients and attorneys with medical claims issues. If you’re healthy, Gross says, go for the HDHP. But in the case of a bad accident, you’ll want to make sure you have the means to pay the full deductible.

Can you stack benefits?

You might have access to voluntary benefits through your employer that can help cover costs that your insurance doesn’t cover. For example, Aflac policies can help pay expenses if you have an accident or get cancer.

You may find that you can get a high-deductible health plan plus a supplemental plan that would help you cover your deductible for less than the cost of a traditional health plan. “It can be a lot less than moving to the next tier where the deductible is lower,” Leibowitz says.

Do you have special care needs?

Some insurance plans cover things like weight loss surgery or infertility treatments — but some don’t, and the exclusion can make a huge difference if it’s a procedure you’re considering. You might find that one insurance company covers a certain surgery or test while another views it as investigational and not medically necessary.

“I call them the fringes,” Leibowitz says. “They’re beyond the typical medical and surgery coverage.” The focus is narrow, he says, but the coverage can be important.

The underlying message, he says, is that just because it looks like the same plan from the same company you were with this year, don’t assume that it hasn’t changed in ways that are important to you. “Network, formulary, benefits,” Leibowitz says, “you have to do your homework.”

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press. 

 

The article Questions You Aren’t Asking (but Should) During Open Enrollment originally appeared on NerdWallet.