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.
Maple Grove makes its one goal matter, defeating Andover in boys soccer quarterfinals
A goal by unseeded Andover was disallowed, helping second seed Maple Grove reach the semifinals.
By Joe Gunther, Star Tribune
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.
The Crimson nearly extended the lead when a ball was knocked off the goal line by Huskies defender Logan Fogarty with under eight minutes left.
Class 2A
DeLaSalle 1, Worthington 0: Senior Juan Muellner Lindor slipped a low shot under the Trojans goalkeeper with 17 minutes remaining, giving the No. 7 Islanders (14-4-1) a victory and advancing them the semifinals in defense of their state championship. The Trojans (17-3-0) are ranked ninth.
Class 1A
St. Paul Academy 2, St. Paul Washington 1: The defending state champion and fourth-ranked Spartans (12-4-3) scored twice in the first half and held on to beat the Eagles (8-9-3). Senior Rusheek Kolan and junior Rowan McLean scored 12 minutes apart in the opening half for the Spartans. Eagles sophomore Awal Wako cut the deficit in half on a penalty kick 30 seconds into second half.
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Joe Gunther, Star Tribune
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.