St. Paul Academy boys soccer last-minute goal pushes it over Minnehaha Academy, into state tournament

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St. Paul Academy boys soccer senior forward Cooper Bollinger-Danielson has now scored 20 goals this season, and none have been as important as the goal he chipped over the Minnehaha Academy goalkeeper in the 76th minute of the Class 1A, Section 3 Championship game.

Bollinger-Danielson received a beautiful through ball past the Minnehaha Academy defense. Minnehaha goalkeeper Benjamin Koeckeritz charged, but Bollinger-Danielson put the ball past him with his right foot, as he has done all season for the Spartans, and as Minnehaha knew he could after two games in three weeks against the Spartans.

“We tried a new formation,” Minnehaha Academy head coach Sean Jensen said. “We had four in the back. We’ve traditionally played with three defenders, but today, just to account for [Bollinger-Danielson-he’s just such a dynamic player-we put four in the back today.”

The Spartans (11-3-3) and Redhawks (13-4-1) played to a 0-0 score line for 76 minutes. Both teams had moments to pull ahead, and good goalkeeping and close misses kept both teams in the game. But Bollinger-Danielson and the Spartans took the Class 1A, Section 3 crown 1-0 Tuesday night at St. Thomas Academy High School to advance to the state tournament.

“We’re happy to be moving on from a very difficult section and going to the state tournament for the first time in ten years,” St. Paul Academy head coach Max Lipset said.

The 0-0 score line through much of the game wasn’t because of a lack of chances. In the 12th minute, Minnehaha Academy had the first good chance of the game. St. Paul Academy's goalkeeper failed to punch the ball away on a Redhawks corner, and the ball fell to defender Evan Paton, who booted it wide of the goal.

Later, St. Thomas Academy’s attack down the left side gave the Spartans a chance. They crossed the ball into the box, and senior Tommy Verhey had an open net but headed the ball wide.

The goalposts were no stranger to action in Tuesday’s game. In the 27th minute, Redhawks midfielder Christopher Sanchez found a pocket of space on the left side of the Spartan box, he ripped a shot with his left foot over the goalies head onto the top bar and down just inches from crossing the goal line

After three shot attempts inside the Minnehaha Academy defensive third, the Spartans responded with their own shot off the crossbar. Senior midfielder Yash Kshirsagar received a free kick in the box. His body was low to the ground, and he headed the ball toward the net, but it hit the bar and bounced out, and Minnehaha cleared it.

Its was one of many chances the Spartans had as the field began to tilt the Spartans way throughout the game until the dam broke in the 76th minutes with Bollinger-Danielson's goal.

"We’ve been creating chances in games throughout the season, so we’ve been working on being patient and not being frustrated in front of the goal.” Lipset said. “If we’re creating chances, we’re doing the right things, so that’s what we keep focusing on.”

Familiar foes

The Spartans and Redhawks had played each other twice over the past three weeks before Tuesday’s game. The Spartans had defeated the Redhawks by a margin of two goals in each game, but the latest fixture, on Oct. 8, went to overtime.

Both teams felt like it was time to try something new, and both teams opted for defense-first strategy.

“We played a completely different strategy in each of the three games, and today knowing that it was going to be a playoff game, we came out focused on our defending and made sure we were keeping things really tight in the back because they’ve got some very talented and dangerous offensive players,” Lipset said.

The defense-first plans helped explain the score line through much of the game, but with three wins in three weeks against Minnehaha Academy, the St. Paul Spartans have earned their place in the state tournament.

“We played a very good Minnehaha team,” Lipset said. “One of the best Minnehaha teams we’ve ever seen, and for the third time in one month, we beat them. This was definitely the closest game. The boys were focused on both ends of the field, both offensive and defensively.”

Minnehaha’s strong season comes to an end

Minnehaha Academy has been around or below .500 for a handful of seasons now, so a run to the Class 1A, Section 3 Championship is an achievement for the Redhawks.

“I don’t track everything, but I know for a fact the boys program at Minnehaha has not had a season like this in a very long time,” Jensen said.

While the Spartans move onto the state tournament, the Redhawks will have to look to next season.

“I’m just really excited,” Jensen said. “We lose some really terrific seniors. A first-year head coach cannot ask for better leaders than Jonathan Karpenko and Samuel Anderson, but we have a lot of really talented players coming back. There’s a lot of reason to be excited about the future of Minnehaha boys soccer.”