Here are the high school soccer sections to keep an eye on as postseason kicks off

It’s win or go home as soccer kicks off the fall high school tournament season.

In some section tournaments, the best teams in Minnesota will face one another with a spot in the state tournament on the line. State quarterfinals begin Oct. 22, with postseason play running through the state championships on Nov. 1.

But, before that: Here’s six section tournaments to keep a close eye on.

Both Southwest Christian (15-0-1) and Watertown-Mayer (14-0-2) enter sections undefeated and No. 1 and No. 3 in 1A girls soccer, respectively.

Should these teams meet in a section final, there’s a lot to suggest this will be an even match. They’ve already drawn against one another, 1-1, in September. Both teams’ defenses have only conceded six goals this year. Freshman Ainsley Blair’s 29 goals for Watertown-Mayer puts her among the state’s top scorers, while senior Maya Johnson leads Southwest Christian, with 21 goals this year.

Southwest Christian made its first state tournament last year and is looking to go back-to-back, while Watertown-Mayer hopes to punch its first ticket to state — both new to the state scene, but making noise.

Southeast Minnesota remains a soccer stronghold, and the boys’ Section 1 should prove a classic example in Class 1A. Winona Cotter packed its regular season schedule full of section opponents and beat everyone but No. 5 Rochester Lourdes, losing 2-1 on October 5. Rochester Lourdes filled its regular season with top-10 opponents in its class and heads into sections on a seven-game win streak.

Sophomore Gavin Kammerer has scored 20 goals for Cotter, while junior keeper Ezra Burros has posted a 91.7% save percentage. In a section tournament matchup, Burros would have to deal with Lourdes’ four players that have recorded at least 10 goals this year.

After losing to eventual state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s in last year’s section championship, Blake opened its season avenging that loss to the Red Knights. The undefeated Blake Bears, No. 2 in their class and led in scoring by sophomore Livi Abboud-Young’s 18 goals, will have to play their way through Benilde-St. Margaret’s again if they want to return to state for the first time since 2019.

No. 7 Orono could be a dark horse choice to make it out of the section, losing to Blake 3-0 this season but playing the Red Knights to a close 1-0.

Class 2A’s boys state championship odds would shift significantly if Simley, St. Paul Highland Park or St. Thomas Academy can knock off No. 1 Academy of Holy Angels in the section tournament. The Holy Angels have only lost one this year, and that was 1-0 to Class 3A’s No. 1 Minneapolis Washburn. Not bad.

Richfield and Hill-Murray are the two section teams that have made it to state since Holy Angels earned a state berth in 2021. Meanwhile, Simley’s got one of the top goal-chance creators in junior Michael Hernandez, with 18 assists this year.

Making it out of Section 4 in girls 3A soccer might be a gauntlet as tough as the state tournament, with four top-10 teams: No. 1 White Bear Lake, No. 3 Woodbury, No. 4 East Ridge and No. 8 Stillwater.

White Bear Lake senior Jenna Maloy’s 28 goals tops the section in scoring, and while the Bears are undefeated, even the lowest seed of this quartet (2021 state champion Stillwater) battled them to a 3-3 draw in early October. Woodbury junior goalkeeper Samanta Mattes has conceded only three goals this season outside of a 6-1 loss to White Bear Lake in September.

White Bear Lake made it out of the section last year before losing to Maple Grove in the state quarterfinals.

No. 2 Minnetonka got the better of No. 6 Edina in the Lake Conference standings, but Edina handed Minnetonka its only loss of the season so far.

In the Class 3A, Section 2 tournament, the two teams have met every year since 2019 — the season Edina won its last state title. Last year, Minnetonka got its first win of the five-game stretch, 1-0 in the section final.

The Edina coaching partnership of Dave Jenson and Billy Garner reached 500 wins this season; whether they can get another key win over Minnetonka is the question.