Boys' soccer: Minneapolis Southwest regroups to stop Wayzata

By Jim Paulsen  james.paulsen@startribune.com

Thank goodness for halftime.

Seeing the second half as more of a do-over than a continuation of the game, Minneapolis Southwest rallied to beat Wayzata 3-2 in the Class 2A, Section 6 championship game at Southwest's wet and muddy Frederickson/Peterson Field.

The top-ranked Lakers (17-1-1) were stunned when Wayzata (12-5-2) took a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of the game Tuesday, then regrouped and began to turn things around.

"I think Wayzata did a better job of adjusting to the field conditions quicker than we did," Southwest coach Jamie Plaisance said. "But slowly, you could see the tide beginning to shift. We got some chances in the first half but couldn't score. I did start to think that we might lose this one."

At halftime, Plaisance made adjustments, abandoning the Lakers' normal ball-control game in favor of an attacking style.

The move quickly paid off. Callen Knutsen scored four minutes into the second half to cut the deficit to 2-1. Ten minutes later, the Lakers got the equalizer on a tap-in in front from Adam Ulring.

Forward Diego Rios got the game-winner four minutes later on the niftiest goal of the night. He took a long through ball, then maneuvered through two defenders before slipping the ball under the Wayzata goalie. A raucous celebration ensued, half relief and half exuberance.

"We just started over," Rios said. "We knew we had to apply some pressure and we did. We were a little worried."