For the second time in the program’s history, the St. Francis High School girls soccer team is headed to the state tournament. The Fighting Saints open play in the Class AA State Tournament Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. against 2-seed Mahtomedi. The game will be played at Kuhlman Stadium at the Edina Community Center.
The matchup: The Saints finished the season with a 13-2-2 record, which included nine shutouts, and advanced to the state tournament by winning the Section 6AA title. SFHS defeated No. 9 Zimmerman 2-1 in the section final to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2021. SFHS was also Mississippi 8 Champions.
Mahtomedi owns a 16-2-1 record and were 4AA Section Champions. The Zephyrs finished the regular season ranked third in Class AA and defeated No. 8 Totino-Grace 2-0 in the section final. Mahtomedi has appeared in the state tournament 17 times, mostly at the Class A level. The Zephyrs were Class A Champions in 2021 and were runner-up in the Class AA tournament in 2022.
Tickets: Information on how to purchase tickets for the quarterfinal game can be found at https://www.mshsl.org/tickets. All tickets will be purchased online through the GoFan website or app.
Streaming: Coverage of all MSHSL state tournament games is on NSPN - Neighborhood Sports Programming Network (formerly PrepSpotlight/SchoolSpace). Payment options are $30 for a yearly subscription or $10 for a month.
Section Tournament recap: On Oct. 15, the Saints defeated 9th-ranked Zimmerman 2-1 in the section final on goals from sophomore Addison Randall and sophomore Avery Hicks. To reach the section final, the Fighting Saints prevailed in a shootout against Delano after sitting tied 2-2 at the end of regulation. Sophomore Ella Owens netted both goals for SFHS. Earlier in the season, Delano handed the Saints one of their two losses of the season (the other loss was the first game of the season). In the opening round of the tournament, SFHS won 4-0 against Rockford.
Statistics: Sophomore Remington Dehaan leads the team in scoring, as she has tallied 13 goals and seven assists. Owens has seven goals and two assists, while freshman Mia Pendergrass adds four goals and 10 helpers.
Despite never playing soccer before this season, senior goalkeeper Emerson Markas played all 17 games and recorded nine shutouts. She allowed 14 goals and totaled 59 saves for a 0.85 goals against average and a .808 save percentage. Markas also helped lead the SFHS softball team to a third place finish in the state tournament last spring as the team’s catcher.
From Head Coach Jake Cowie: “The team’s dedication has separated them from everyone else we have played this year. Their commitment over the last eight weeks has been incredible. I’ve said it to the girls and they believe it - if we are on it, we can beat anyone. We understand it's a privilege to be in the final eight and there will be a lot of quality (teams), but the girls are up for it and want to see how far we can go.”
From senior Sydney Pettey: “I think what makes this team special is our bond and everyone’s passion, drive and want to win. We set the goal that we wanted to go to state this year. There was a period in the season where we felt we were slipping, so we took one practice to have a conversation and reevaluate our goals and I think that was the turning point for all of us to realize that this is what we wanted to do and we did it.”
From senior Emerson Markas: “Something that makes this team really special is that we are friends off the field too and we are able to have that bond and relationship. We collectively decided that we wanted to win sections and compete at state. It was great to win sections, but now we can’t let off the gas pedal and play like it could be our last, because it could be.”