Wayzata, Maple Grove win in OT, advance to Class 3A boys soccer final

Wayzata senior forward Lassi Koivukangas tried to get one last scoring chance as time ticked down in the first half of overtime. But he was hauled down in the box with officially one second remaining, and Wayzata was awarded a penalty kick.

The Trojans called on senior Tyler Baker, who scored the overtime goal on that penalty kick to give top seed Wayzata a 3-2 victory over fourth seed Woodbury in a Class 3A boys soccer semifinal Wednesday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

"The guys kept going until the last second," Wayzata coach Dominic Duenas said. "And Lassi did that and created that scoring chance.

"We thought it was a penalty kick for sure."

Not a bad time for Baker's first goal of the season either.

"It's going to be a memory that I'll have in my mind forever," Baker said. "It felt really good."

Wayzata senior Charlie Piller scored the game's first goal. Woodbury tied the game 23 seconds before halftime and then took a 2-1 lead early in the second half on a penalty-kick goal of its own from junior Olin Franzwa following a handball violation by Wayzata (19-0-2). Wayzata senior Gunnar Hendrickson beat Woodbury defenders to the ball to tie the score with 19:24 to play in regulation.

Wayzata also defeated Woodbury 3-2 in overtime in last year's state championship game.

"In terms of how it ended, it is what it is," said Woodbury coach John Engen, whose team fell to 14-3-3. "It can be a cruel game. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us today."

Maple Grove took a corner kick in overtime, and the ball bounced off a few heads and bodies before making it to Gavin Chabica, who took a shot from outside the box.

"I couldn't even see the goal," Chabica said. "I just hit the ball."

His second goal of the game, this one at 4:40 of overtime, gave No. 2 seed Maple Grove a 2-1 victory over unseeded Park in the second Class 3A semifinal Wednesday.

Park senior Ayub Mohamed scored with 10:16 remaining in regulation to give the Wolfpack a 1-0 lead. The Crimson first had a goal negated because the play was called offside.

Maple Grove (19-0-1) has allowed only six goals all season.

Park (12-8-0) was in search of its first state title game since it finished as the runner-up in 1992. The Wolfpack ended a five-game winning streak.

"We were 2 minutes and 21 seconds away from a state title game," Park coach Andrew Bourgoine said. "That's how close we came to pretty much beating three ranked teams in a row."

Maple Grove returns to the state title game for the first time in 25 years in search of its first boys soccer championship.