Wayzata took on the best in boys' soccer

The latest trip to the state tournament for Wayzata's boys' soccer team can be described in descending order. That is, the unseeded Trojans' three games were played against the third, second, and first seeds, respectively.

After overtime victories over Bloomington Jefferson and Woodbury, Apple Valley proved to be too much. The Eagles completed a remarkable undefeated, untied season with a 4-0 victory over Wayzata in the Class 2A championship game.

"It was a great accomplishment for our group of players," Trojans coach Dominic Duenas said. "We have only seven seniors, and those seven were fantastic leaders. They were a big reason we were able to have such success late in the season."

Duenas said his wife would often hear comments during games from the parents of younger players about the positive experience they were getting by being around the older players.

"We definitely agreed," he said.

In the end, Duenas admitted his team was running out of gas after playing two emotionally charged overtime games leading up to the championship match. But against a powerhouse like Apple Valley (this was the Eagles' eighth state championship), even an opponents' best effort often isn't enough.

"Apple Valley is a very good side," said Duenas, who has been coaching in Minnesota for over a decade. "Typical team [coach] Chuck Scanlon has there. They're physical, athletic and love to score goals."

To say Benilde-St. Margaret's and Totino-Grace played two offensive battles this football season would be like saying the Titanic was a nice little boat.

The two met in a 48-44 Eagles victory in Week 2 of the regular season. Then last week they were tied 21-21 in the Class 4A, Section 6 championship before Totino-Grace pulled away for a 42-28 victory.

The combined stats are eye-popping. In the two games, the teams came a few first downs away from registering a full mile (or 1,760 yards) of total offense. BSM had 394 yards in the first game and 489 on Friday. Totino had 407 in the first game and 430 on Friday. Combined total: 1,720 yards.

Even more striking, each team did it in different ways.

Of the Eagles' 837 total offensive yards in the two games, 757 of them came on the ground. Of the Red Knights' 883 total yards, 733 came through the air.