Top seed Orono, No. 2 Hill-Murray take separate routes to Class 2A boys soccer final

First-year Orono soccer coach Grant Steine called it one of his worst days.

Not Wednesday, when the Spartans outlasted DeLaSalle for a 4-3 victory in double overtime of a Class 2A boys soccer state tournament semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium. No, the low point came last week when he realized none of his deserving players made the coaches association all-state lists because of his technical error.

"We had quite a few guys who could have been on the list — I really don't want to relive it," Steine said. "I submitted the information, but I didn't look for a confirmation email. I found out the day of the all-state meeting. It broke my heart."

All was forgiven as No. 1 seed Orono (17-1-2) solidified a place in the championship game at 12:30 p.m. Friday. Senior Lisle Cherwien, a player Steine tried nominating for the Mr. Soccer award, scored twice — including the game-winner on a header in the 99th minute.

No. 5 seed DeLaSalle (14-5-1), the defending state champ, made Orono put in a full day's work. The Islanders fell behind twice before storming back to tie the game and force overtime.

"All season we have faced adversity," senior Ethan LeMoine said. "We're able to face it and make these comebacks. Unfortunately, the last goal didn't go our way."

Cherwien said the winning goal left him in shock.

"I saw it go over [teammate] Elliot Tysdal's head, and I thought, 'I'm winning this header for sure,' " Cherwien said. "I just jumped up and headed it in."

Hill-Murray boys soccer players realized their biggest step this season, Wednesday's Class 2A state tournament semifinals, was just that — a step.

The Pioneers responded by dispatching St. Cloud Tech 6-1 and advancing to the championship game at 12:30 p.m. Friday to face No. 1 seed Orono.

A year ago, Hill-Murray lost its bid for an undefeated season in the title game. So this group of 16 senior players worked on savoring sensible bites.

Coach Jeff Zupfer brought in Garen Stoehr, co-owner of Durable Minds LLC, to reinforce, whether for an August training session or any game along the way, "being present in the moment and trying not to think about the prize on Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium," Zupfer said. "It was a challenge, but we had a lot of seniors who provided the leadership to keep us grounded."

Two Pioneers goals in the first 25 minutes got things started well. Then St. Cloud Tech (9-8-3) cut its deficit on senior Omar Ali's goal in the 40th minute.

"That was a little bit of an energy kill when they scored," senior Jacob Dinzeo said. "But we made sure to stay in the present. We were still up."

Hill-Murray extended its lead with four goals in the second half, including senior Zach Frey's second tally of the game.

"They have a lot of guys who were thirsty for goal," Tigers coach Dan Stoterau said. "They bring that intensity on offense, and we couldn't quite stop those guys."