Girls Soccer: Huskies Fall in Section Finals

Saturday's game was the end-of-the-line for both teams. The Section 1AA girls soccer championship at Owatonna Soccer Complex at Lincoln school would allow one team to hoist a trophy but there is no state tournament to advance to. Lakeville South got that honor as they scored a 4-1 win over the Huskies on a brisk, chilly afternoon. South defended their section title from 2019 despite have just one regular season win and entering the tournament as the eighth seed.

Owatonna was in the finals for the first time since getting to that stage in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and 2005. The Huskies were the second seed. South had already knocked out Big Nine champ Rochester Century in the quarterfinals.

The Cougars put on strong pressure early and had a big advantage in possession time. The Huskies defended well and goal keeper Greta Korbel made numerous saves. But South broke through with 16-and-a-half minutes to go in the first half on a ball from Grace Ebbighausen that just cleared Korbel's outstretched hands and was just below the cross bar.

Lakeville took the 1-0 lead to the half and pulled away early in the second half with a pair of goals in a three-minute span. Ebbighausen added her second goal just over a minute into the second half. Grace Plucinak made the tally 3-0 three minutes later.

The Huskies had a couple of their best scoring chances after falling behind. One combo between Hillary Haarstad, Abby Vetsch, and Ezra Oien seemed destined for the back of the net, but keeper Kenzie Smith came up big.

With the score 4-0, OHS scored on a corner kick header from Oien. Owatonna had appeared to score just before that, but was awarded a penalty kick instead. Anna Herzog's blast was knocked over the crossbar by Smith resulting in the corner that led to the Huskies only goal in the 4-1 match.

Nine OHS seniors closed out their prep careers Saturday, including Libby Janka, Sydney Hunst, Lily Sampson, Lauren Borgerding, Sarah Kingland, Anna Herzog, Hailey Fox, Emma Dahnert, and Greta Korbel. The Huskies finished the season at 9-3-1.