Royals get past slow start to stay on roll

Woodbury girls' soccer coach Bill Ebertz said he is waiting for the game when his even-keeled Royals come out with "an overabundance of excitement."

But if Tuesday's night 5-0 victory against Lakeville North was business-like, then business is good for defending state champion Woodbury.

Leading 1-0 at halftime, Woodbury (20-0-1), the state's No. 1-ranked team and top tournament seed, put away first-time qualifiers Lakeville North in their Class 2A quarterfinal played at Park of Cottage Grove.

The Royals moved their two- season unbeaten streak to 40-0-3. In 33 of those 40 victories, Woodbury won by shutout.

"There is a target on our back every game," senior Alyssa DuVal said. "That motivates us."

DuVal assisted on a goal by Rachael VanKeulen in the 28th minute to give Woodbury a 1-0 lead. Emily Erickson added a goal in the 45th minute, blasting a left-footed shot that Panthers goalkeeper Katrina Nicholson got a piece of but could not keep out of the goal.

Senior Caitlin Graboski made it 3-0 by heading in a corner kick from Kassey Kallman. Kallman, recently voted Ms. Soccer, had three assists.

"Once we get a few goals, the girls really become hard to stop," Ebertz said.

DAVID LA VAQUE

Eagan 1, Centennial 0 (OT) As Eagan senior Becky McCoy lined up to take a free kick from 30 yards out late in overtime, she reminded herself to just keep the ball on target. Her simple approach paid off as the ball deflected off two Centennial players and into the net.

McCoy's goal with 1 minute and 6 seconds remaining in the first overtime gave the No. 4 seed Wildcats a 1-0 victory over Centennial in Cottage Grove.

"I just wanted to put the ball in play and keep it on frame," said McCoy, who has seven goals this season. "I was hoping something good would happen."

Centennial, playing in its first state tournament ever, did not earn one of the four seeds but was ranked No. 6 in the final coaches poll, one spot behind Eagan (19-2-1). The teams battled through an evenly played first half.

Eagan created more scoring chances in the second half. Overtime seemed appropriate for two teams not accustomed to losing. Eagan entered the game on a 12-0-1 unbeaten streak. Centennial was 10-0-2 coming into to Thursday night and had not allowed a goal in its past seven games.

"We've worked well together," McCoy said. "I don't think losing was an option for us."

DAVID LA VAQUE

Cloquet 2, East Ridge 1, SO (5-4): Less than a minute stood between a very quick first trip to the Metrodome and the girls' soccer team at East Ridge, a brand new school in Woodbury. Instead, the Raptors' first trip will have to wait.

Cloquet finished a frantic final few minutes of regulation by scoring with 39.8 seconds left to tie Thursday's Class 1A quarterfinal 1-1 and send the game into overtime. After 20 scoreless minutes, the Lumberjacks prevailed in a shootout to win 2-1 at Roseville High School and earn a berth in Monday's semifinals at the Dome.

Cloquet's game-tying goal came after East Ridge broke a scoreless tie on Anna Bygrave's goal with just 3:07 left in regulation.

"It's just frantic and crazy, and we score, and it's still crazier," said Cloquet goalkeeper Kaitrin Rathe. "It just felt good. I'm so glad we had the energy to still do it because we really wanted it."

Rathe played a big role in securing the victory. Her save on Aileen Scheibner's drive with 1:30 left in the second extra session kept the game alive. In the shootout, she stopped the first shot she saw. Then, with the shootout in sudden death in the sixth round, she made the clinching save after Cloquet's Kaitlyn Proulx had scored.

East Ridge, which earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament despite having no seniors on its roster, struggled through a first half that head coach Mark Abboud said was among its worst halves of the past 12 games.

But the Raptors rebounded to control more of the play in the second half and caught a break when Cloquet hit the flush with 15 minutes left in regulation. Bygrave's goal on a nice feed from Noelle Arcand followed, but as it turned out, the game was just beginning.

"It was tough," Abboud said. "Anna got a great goal for us, and we just had a little lapse."

MICHAEL RAND

Blake 3, Mankato West 0: When Blake's Natalie Sill scored from close range midway through the first half against Mankato West, it seemed as though the Bears, who had been controlling play, might break it open.

Instead, there was a delayed reaction as Blake (16-3-1) withstood a brief flurry from the Scarlets shortly thereafter that included a shot off the post and another off the crossbar.

But a 50-yard free kick from Blake eighth-grader Lydia Sutton was redirected into the net by Hillary Crowe with a minute left in the first half, giving the Bears an important two-goal lead that restored order and allowed them to cruise into the semifinals against Cloquet at 10 a.m. Monday at the Metrodome. Sutton added a goal with eight minutes left in the match.

Blake, seeded No. 2, is attempting to win its first title since 2000. The Bears were state runners-up in 2007.

MICHAEL RAND

Orono 1, Rogers 0: The youngest player on the field passed her first state game test with flying colors. Seventh-grader Sophie Babo's direct kick from 23 yards out at the 11:55 mark of the second half propelled the Spartans past the Royals at St. Cloud State. Rogers outshot Orono 8-4, but senior goalkeeper Grete Miller kept the Royals off the scoreboard.

La Crescent 2, East Grand Forks 0: East Grand Forks had its undefeated season stopped by an opportunistic La Crescent squad. Junior Jena Kadlec score less than 4 minutes into the game to give the Lancers an early lead, while senior Autumn Hayes' rebound goal off a penalty kick in the 68th minute rounded out the scoring. A stout defensive effort was backed by sophomore goalkeeper Meagan Schroeder's three saves.

Northfield 1, Elk River 0 (OT): One team had all of the golden opportunities. The other cashed in when it counted. Scott Abdella's goal with 2 minutes, 13 seconds left in the second 10-minute sudden-death overtime broke a 0-0 tie with Elk River, lifting Northfield into the Class 2A boys' soccer semifinals.

"I saw I had a shot and I just hoped," said Abdella, who put in his goal on the run off a high, bouncing pass from Aaron Stets. "Being able to finish is everything in soccer."

That's something the fourth-seeded Elks just couldn't seem to do at Hopkins High School.

One unofficial count had Elk River (12-5-3) miss chances on seven different opportunities inside the goal box. That included a header attempt off a corner kick with 1:45 left in the second half, and another miss off a direct kick with 1:30 remaining in the first overtime.

"I have to say, I got lucky," Raiders keeper Alex Gerdes said. "I don't know what else to say. I made a couple saves in there, but I was helped out a lot."

That Northfield (14-4-3) is moving on into the Metrodome for Monday's semifinal against top-seed Apple Valley is somewhat improbable.

The Raiders moved up from the smaller-school Class 1A this season, needed a shootout to make it out of the Section 1 quarterfinals two weeks ago and Thursday was playing without two key pieces in forwards Edoardo Anedda and Avery Nelson. Both were kept from the game because of illness.

"It doesn't matter; we had to come out and play and we did that," Northfield coach Jorge Zuccolotto said. "At the end of the day, it just came down to us getting that one chance and putting it in even though our rotation was very short."

BRIAN STENSAAS

Apple Valley 8, Blaine 0: Three goals scored three different ways -- Stephen Johnson's header, Tom Obarski's nifty shot from close range and Bijan Jabari's laser from 35 yards out -- set the tone in the first half as Apple Valley cruised to a 8-0 victory over Blaine in Hopkins.

Obarski added two more early in the second half for a hat trick.

The victory gives the Eagles (22-0) a school record for victories in one season.

The Bengals (13-8-1) became the latest team to fail to get anything going against Apple Valley's defense. The Eagles, which are ranked No. 7 in the country by the NSCAA, have 18 shutouts this season, 10 in a row. They have allowed only five goals all year.

BRIAN STENSAAS