High school soccer quarterfinals begin Tuesday

With all of the talk about the state football tournament moving into U.S. Bank Stadium, it's been overlooked that the metro's newest attraction will play host to the boys' and girls' soccer state tournament semifinals and championship games long before the football teams set foot in the stadium.

The Class 1A and 2A quarterfinals begin Tuesday and run through Thursday at Benilde-St. Margaret's, Chisago Lakes, Farmington and St. Cloud State. The semifinals and finals will be Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Here's an overview of the tournament quarterfinals. All quarterfinals are doubleheaders at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Class 2A

Tuesday's quarterfinals pits Wayzata, the No. 2 seed, and its undefeated record (16-0-3) against Owatonna (11-7-1) followed by Edina (No. 3 seed, 15-3-1) against unseeded Burnsville (10-7-1). After a .500 regular season, the Blaze caught fire in the playoffs, scoring for goals in each of its three postseason games.

Undefeated and untied Stillwater (19-0-0) understandably received the No. 1 seed and will play Suburban East rival Mounds View (9-10-1) in the late game Wednesday. The Ponies beat the Mustangs 6-0 in late September, part of a regular-season-ending string of six consecutive shutouts. Mounds View is a surprise entrant, emerging from Section 5 despite being seeded No. 8. Preceding that game will be Andover (No. 4, 14-2-2) vs. Moorhead (16-2-0).

All four quarterfinal games will be held at Benilde-St. Margaret's.

The top four teams in the final Minnesota High School Soccer Coaches Association rankings failed to qualify for the tournament. Orono, Breck, Totino-Grace and St. Paul Academy all lost in the section playoffs.

All four quarterfinals will be held Wednesday. In the top half of the bracket, No. 1-seeded Mankato West (17-2-0), led by 2016 Class 1A Mr. Soccer winner Jake Makela, will play unseeded Bemidji (18-2-0) followed by Willmar (No. 4, 18-1-1) vs. Northfield (No. 5, 14-3-3) at St. Cloud State. In the other half of the bracket, Blake (No. 2, 15-3-2) will play Duluth Denfeld (16-4-0) in the early game followed by St. Thomas Academy (No. 3, 15-4-0) against St. Paul Como Park (11-5-3). Both games are at Chisago Lakes High School.

Class 2A

East Ridge (14-4-1) is making its first state tournament appearance and earned the No. 1 seed, thanks largely to a stingy defense that has gone five straight games without giving up a goal. The Raptors will play unseeded Andover (15-2-1) in the first of Thursday's quarterfinals at Chisago Lakes, followed by Lakeville North (No. 4, 13-3-2) vs. Centennial (No. 5, 15-0-3) in the late game.

The other half of the bracket will be played Wednesday at Farmington. Rosemount (No. 2, 15-1-2), which ended Eagan's bid for a third straight state title with a 2-1 victory in the Section 3 final, plays Minnetonka (12-5-2) in the early game followed by Minneapolis Washburn (No. 3, 16-1-1) vs. St. Michael-Albertville (15-1-3).

On Tuesday at Farmington, St. Paul Academy (No. 2, 15-2-3) will play Dover-Eyota (16-3-0) in the early quarterfinal and Mankato West (No. 3, 17-2-0) will take on North Branch (12-7-1) in the late game.