Wayzata, Woodbury rise and shine in morning Class 3A boys' soccer semifinals

Xander Anderson doesn't have to see opportunities to score. He feels them.

Anderson scored three goals to give third-seeded Woodbury a 4-2 victory over second-seeded Maple Grove in the semifinals of the Class 3A boys' soccer state tournament Tuesday morning at U.S. Bank Stadium.

On all of his goals, Anderson was positioned so that he had both time and space.

"It's just a feeling on the field," said Anderson, a Star Tribune All-Metro first-team selection. "I just feel that I'm in pockets of space where I'm open. I can see the passing lanes so my guys can get the ball where I can finish."

Anderson, a senior attacker, started the scoring 6 minutes, 28 seconds into the game, then broke a 1-1 tie 9:04 into the second half. He completed his hat trick 1:19 later.

Evan Mountin capped the scoring for the Royals (15-1-3) with 16:21 left. Mountin also assisted on Anderson's two second-half goals. Maple Grove (18-2-0) got its goals from Carter Sheard and Caleb Manse.

Sheard's goal, off a pass from Chris Frantz, tied the score 1-1 with 2:19 left in the first half. It came just moments after the Royals hit the post with a shot that could have given them a 2-0 lead.

Manse scored with 9:17 left to get the Crimson within two goals. Aaron Badillo assisted on the goal.

Wayzata 4, Andover 1: The top-seeded Trojans took control of a back-and-forth semifinal late in the first half and defeated the fifth-seeded Huskies in the first game of the day.

The Trojans (18-1-2) finished the first half with a 2-0 lead and 6-0 edge in shots on goal.

Trojans junior midfielder Charlie Piller, who scored two goals, said success comes when forwards and midfielders stop trouble before it starts.

"When we press up top, it shuts down their attack," he said. "[The midfielders] have worked on shutting them down so they can't really get an attack started."

Piller scored his second goal of the game off a pass from Kieran Mahan with 4:56 left. That goal came 2:02 after Joe Burica scored on a penalty kick to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead.

Baraka Tarleton scored for the Huskies (15-3-2), sliding a penalty shot under diving goalkeeper Ethan Kintzle with 25:16 left in the game.

For today's semifinal schedule tap here.