After holding off St. Cloud Area 3-2 to win the CI division adapted soccer state championship on Saturday, Anoka-Hennepin and its fans huddled around senior leader Tyler Kurkowski for a moment of prayer and dedication to a fallen teammate.

"It's hard, but it brings the whole team together," said an emotional Kurkowski, who scored the Mustangs' first two goals in the championship. "We did it. I'll give credit to St. Cloud. They're a good team, but this is for Lacie."

Lacie Bickford, a member of last year's state championship squad, passed away this past summer at age 17. In her honor, the Mustangs (12-0) wore her number 16 on their left sleeves all season.

"They kept bringing it up over and over that 'this is for Lacie, this is for Lacie,' " Mustangs coach Ted Johnson said of the way his team motivated itself all year. "This was a hard season, but they have always played hard as a team. They're just a tight-knit group."

St. Cloud Area (10-2) mounted some pressure late but wasn't able to tie the score. Senior Marcelli Kombo scored both goals for the Thunder, whose only two losses this season were to the Mustangs.

PI DivisionIt was the smallest player on the floor who made the biggest difference for the Robins, as they cruised to their fourth consecutive championship in the PI Division.

Seventh-grader Chaun Johnson came off the bench to inject life into the offense, scoring the first goal and setting the tone in the midfield as Robbinsdale/Hopkins/Mound-Westonka (10-0-1) posted a 3-0 victory over Anoka-Hennepin.

"We've kind of tried to use him in that role, as kind of a little spark plug," Robins coach Marcus Onsum said of Johnson, who led the team with 12 goals entering the tournament. "We just know that with Chaun's skill set, his footwork, his speed, his enthusiasm, we can put him on the floor at any time to really spark the offense."

The victory capped off the Robins' fourth consecutive undefeated season -- an accomplishment that Onsum said he didn't expect, given how much scoring and leadership the squad lost from last year.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to know where these kids started at the beginning of the season, and to continue to live up to the expectations that the teams in previous years have set for them," he said. "I can't be any more proud of these kids than I am right now."

Consolation round• In the third-place game in the PI division, Park Center freshman Nathan Liter scored with one second left in regulation to tie the game 3-3. After nine scoreless minutes in the sudden-death overtime, eighth-grader Grayson Nicolay ended it in thrilling fashion for Dakota United (8-2-1), scoring with 43 seconds left on an assist from Jaayson Meyer.