Mollie Monson is balancing more responsibilities than most of her Park Center teammates.
Monson is a defender on the Pirates girls’ soccer team, where she is known for her physical style play. She is also the place kicker for the school’s football team, converting extra points on Friday nights under the lights.
“It’s a little hard to balance, but my coaches do a great job of allowing me to practice both,” Monson said. “When it comes down to it, soccer is my first sport though.”
Her Park Center teammates are pretty happy Monson put soccer first.
The senior midfielder scored her 11th goal of the season, helping lead the top-seeded Pirates to their first state tournament with a 2-1 win against second-seeded Totino-Grace in the Class 1A, Section 5 championship game on Thursday at Maple Grove High School.
“It is really an amazing feeling to be part of something special like this,” Monson said. “We all wanted this so bad. And to do it, and be the first ones, is special.”
Monson, however, did not boom a ball in from 40-yards out. She used her head to score off a perfect pass from a corner kick, recording the goal 56 seconds into the game.
“That really set the tone of the game,” senior forward Jill Rosby said. “Mollie (Monson) is one of our stronger players and to come out like that, score early. That just said, ‘We were here to play.’”
Park Center coach Raul Garcia said nearly everyone expects Monson to use her foot to score with a hard shot, and he prepared the set play with that perception in mind.
“She played it exactly how we practiced it,” he said. “It was perfect.”
The Pirates extended their lead in the second half with another perfect play.
Rosby received a pass in front of the Eagles’ goal and quickly put it into the lower left corner of the net to give Park Center the 2-0 lead.
The goal proved pivotal as Totino-Grace mounted a late comeback.
Junior midfielder Abby Palma scored with 2:18 remaining in the game, making the score 2-1 and causing the Pirates to feel some pressure.
“I was a little nervous after they scored,” Rosby said. “If there was a little more time, more than just two minutes, it would have been a lot harder, but there was some nerves.”
The Eagles, however, could not pull even before time expired.
Garcia said he was relieved when game clock ticked off the final seconds.
“My heart was racing a lot,” he said.
Thinking about the impact of the goal that put the Pirates into their first state tournament made Rosby emotional.
“There have been a lot of great moments this season, but I don’t think I have ever cried because I was so happy,” she said.
Garcia began digging through the Park Center girls’ soccer record books at the start of the season, but he could not find any information regarding a Pirates’ trip to the state tournament.
“I have stuff from back in the 1980’s,” he said. “This school has been around for a long time and we haven’t been there yet. I think we have passed every other record, so to finally go is pretty cool.”
