High school girls soccer: Cloquet loses in shootout in Class A quarterfinal

ROSEVILLE, Minn. — Cloquet girls soccer coach Dustin Randall said he would be happy to take his chances in a penalty-kick shootout, if his team’s Class A state tournament quarterfinal came down to that game-ending scenario.

Randall had promised a defensive approach to the Lumberjacks’ game Totino-Grace, believing the best way unseeded Cloquet could defeat the third-seeded Eagles was to leave it up to goalkeeper Kenzie Rathe and his PK shooters.

That plan worked to perfection through 80 scoreless minutes of regulation, 20 scoreless minutes of overtime and seven rounds of the shootout at Roseville Area High School. But Cloquet missed in the eighth round and Totino-Grace senior Nicole Hagen nailed her shot to give the Eagles the 5-4 shootout victory tonight.

Cloquet ended its season 12-6-3; Totino-Grace (16-2-2) advances to play either defending champion Blake or Alexandria in Monday’s semifinals at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Neither team produced many scoring chances in the first half, with Totino-Grace wide of the net on its best opportunities. Cloquet appeared content with dropping defenders back into its zone on a cold, windy night that forced all but one player — Totino-Grace midfielder Grace Pouliot — to wear leggings under their shorts.

The Eagles controlled play in Cloquet’s zone throughout the second half, but senior goalkeeper Kenzie Rathe was equal to the task by stopping several attempts. Alex Miller had one of the Eagles’ best chances with 12 minutes left, but Rathe got her fingertips on the shot.

Ann Hinrichs hit the crossbar with less than five minutes to play on a scramble in front of the net and, less than a minute later, a shot struck the right post.

The winner advances to play either defending champion Blake or Alexandria at 10 a.m. Monday at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Cloquet 0-0-0-0—0

Totino-Grace 0-0-0-0—0

Totino-Grace wins 5-4 in shootout

First Half — No scoring.

Second Half — No scoring.

First Overtime — No scoring.

Second Overtime — No scoring.

Penalty-kick shootout: Cloquet goals: Carley Esse, Emily Rikkola, Alyssa Lamirande, Rebecca Hammond; Totino-Grace goals: Alexandra Miller, Molly Adam, Annmarie Umland, Chaselyn Miller, Nicole Hagen.

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