A lightning delay was called with 30 minutes remaining in Thursday night’s Section 4AA boys soccer semifinal between visiting Como Park and Washington Technical Magnet School.
The fourth-seeded Cougars and the top-seeded Eagles filed inside the latter’s building and fans of the St. Paul City Conference teams funneled out the stadium gates. Those in black and gold smiled broadly. Their counterparts in purple and gold were somber.
Many fans kept moving to cars which proceeded to leave. And why not? Como Park held a 4-0 lead on their way to what would become a 5-1 victory powered by Blessed Htoo’s three goals.
The Cougars advanced to face third-seeded Mahtomedi in Tuesday’s final on the Zephyrs’ field. Como Park beat Mahtomedi last season in the section semifinals.
“We didn’t start the game great but our first goal was a huge momentum swing,” said Cougars’ coach Brendan Doyle. “It allowed us to calm down and play our game.”
Como Park (12-5-1) suffered two of its season losses to the Eagles during a six-day stretch in the first days of September. Washington Tech won the first clash, 3-2, and the second, 3-0; the latter a nonconference affair.
The Eagles (9-4-3), new to the AA ranks this fall after winning the 2023 Section 4A title and eight games last season, built a dangerous attack led by fast, physical and ebullient striker Maverick Ward. He and several teammates often combined for dangerous diagonal runs, through balls and sprints up the sidelines on which they burst past outside backs.
The Cougars, however, made sure to have five and six defenders between their net and the ball. That diligent defensive work didn’t allow the openings Washington Tech usually exploited and led to Eagles trying to dribble through traffic, giving their foes even more time to get back.
“We knew they’d had a lot of success playing into space behind our midfield and quickly combining to break us down,” said Doyle, who this time deployed a 4-5-1 formation. “So we played a little bit deeper and more compact, let them play the ball into our feet and countered from there.
“They have some phenomenal players and when things get tougher, those players take a lot on themselves. As great as they are, when we’re (2 on 1) against them, we can defend them.”
Como Park first went against the expected script 14 minutes into the match. Hamza Abdi rang in a shot off the crossbar with keeper Edwin Perez Sosa down near the 6-yard mark.
The visitors took a 2-0 lead midway through the first half when Htoo knocked another shot over Sosa from the top of the box.
The dagger came only 45 seconds before intermission, a 40-yard bomb from Pah Chi that went in off Sosa’s hands and under the bar.
Htoo banged home a shot from the center of the box and inside the left post 10 minutes into the second half. It was the midfielder’s team-leading twelfth tally this season.
The Eagles’ Awal Wako notched his team’s goal on a penalty kick midway through the second half before Htoo produced a hat trick with a deflected free-kick shot with 14 minutes remaining.
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