Wayzata girls soccer wins 3A state championship with 3-1 victory over Edina

Fresh off her first hat trick, Wayzata sophomore Alex Vellieux opened the scoring the Trojans in just the third minute of Friday’s Class 3A girls soccer state championship game.

More goals followed as the Trojans dethroned 2023 state champion Edina with a decisive 3-1 victory.

Wayzata (19-1-1) faced Edina (14-2-5) in the state final having lost to the Hornets 2-1 in last year’s title game. Edina also handed Wayzata its only loss of this season, also 2-1, in August.

Revenge was at hand.

“We’ve been the only team to beat them the past two years,” first-year Edina coach Taylor Greathouse said. “So you have to assume a team is coming out for blood.”

Wayzata senior Tenley Senden joined the scoring party in the 12th minute on a terrific individual effort. Now ahead 2-0, the Trojans — and especially Senden — weren’t finished.

Senden scored her second goal of the game (her team-leading 27th this season) on a “hit-the-brakes-and-let-them-fly-right-by” move that would make Pete “Maverick” Mitchell of “Top Gun” movie fame stand and applaud. Over-pursuing Edina defenders ran themselves out of the play as Senden cut back and pounced in the 28th minute.

“It means a lot,” Senden said of her performance. “I thought I would get shut down and have to work off people.”

Said Greathouse: “As a team, we kind of identified they kind of let up on each of those chances in the first half and they scored on their chances. But the second half was night and day different.”

Ahead 3-0 at halftime, Wayzata could ease into cruise control. Or so the Trojans thought.

Wayzata defenders parked the bus in front of goalkeeper Sophia Alvarez, kicking away flurries of Edina chances to start the second half. Alvarez denied any and all comers faced until Hornets senior Alejandra Adair scored to ruin Alvarez’s bid for a clean sheet in the 55th minute.

“She played insane in the second half,” Greathouse said.