Prep girls soccer: Lumberjacks' dynamic duo could 'make defenses nervous'

The summer has barely started, but the Cloquet girls soccer team spent Tuesday, June 29, at Hilltop Park practicing beneath a blazing sun.

Senior Katie Turner, a two-time All-State selection, is hoping to lead the Cloquet to its third straight section title. Turner said she and Alexa Snesrud worked out independently of the team early in the summer in the hopes of becoming a dynamic duo on the offensive side of the field.

“Alexa and I have been working a lot together on just improving each other’s game,” Turner said. “We’re across the field from each other and our play has come so far. I think she and I are going to make a lot happen this season — I think we’re going to be a force that makes defenses nervous.”

The Lumberjacks return nine seniors — including Turner — in 2021, but will face a very different section in their hunt for a third title. The Minnesota State High School League added a third class and realigned the sections. Chisago Lakes, who Cloquet beat for the Section 7A title in 2019, was moved to Section 5AA. Duluth Marshall, the Lumberjacks’ victim in the same game in 2020, remained at the Class A level, while Cloquet was slotted in Section 7AA.

RELATED: Meagher saves Lumberjacks in 7A championship

Coach Dustin Randall said early on the team is working to improve its communication and see who will step up into roles vacated by seniors. The Lumberjacks lost most of their back line to graduation, as well as three-time All-Lake Superior Conference goalie Gracie Meagher.

Randall said it’s nice to have Turner, a back-to-back All-State selection, and leading scorer Snesrud back in 2021, but he’s nearly as excited about the potential of new goalie Katelyn Olson.

“It’s always scary losing a goalie,” Randall said. “But I think Katie Olson is going to be really exciting to watch. She’s shown that she has the right mindset, she works really hard day in and day out and all of a sudden she’s nice and tall.”

Randall also said he was looking forward to Maddie Young stepping into a leadership role in her senior year on the team.

Young, a midfielder for the Lumberjacks, said the losses to graduation hurt, but the Lumberjacks are coming together as a team.

“We lost a lot of seniors last year that were intricate parts of our team,” she said. “We’re working to fill those spots and learning to work together as a team. That’s probably the biggest thing for us, focusing on our communication and learning how to play together.”