Anson Karn broke a scoreless tie with 5:15 left in the first half, helping second-seeded Maple Grove take a 1-0 over unseeded Andover in the quarterfinal round of the Class 3A boys soccer state tournament at Kuhlman Stadium in Edina.
When a shot by Collin Merritt from the far side slid through Huskies goalkeeper Christian Guenther, Karn settled the ball down and slid it past a Huskies defender for the game's only goal.
"A great ball across," Karn said. "I knew no one was going to get it because it's wet and skipping. It just came through. I tapped it in."
The Crimson (18-0-1) had opportunity after opportunity but had only one shot on goal to show for it until Karn's goal. They sent several shots over the top of the goal and a few others just wide of the posts.
"[The timing of the goal] was pretty big," Crimson head coach Gregg Leininger said. "We really weren't feeling it. I don't think we were confident until we got that goal. Immediately after that goal everyone started playing."
Crimson goalkeeper Beckett Carlson stopped all three shots he faced. Along with stopping shots, the senior drives a lot of the offense with long goal kicks and free kicks as close as midfield.
"Any time we are under pressure, he can instantly get it out," Karn said.
The Huskies (10-8-0) thought they had the first goal of the game with just under nine minutes left in the first half, but Preston Bergeron's shot was disallowed because of a hand ball.
