Senior attacker Maya Rajacich's goal in the 76th minute propelled Minneapolis Washburn to a 2-1 victory over Cretin-Derham Hall in a Class 2A, Section 6 quarterfinal Thursday night at Washburn High School.

Rajacich's goal was the end result of hard work from her kid sister, freshman attacker Marli. 

Streaking down the left side, Marli beat out a Raiders defender for the lose ball and crossed it to Maya, who put it in the back of the net for the eventual game-winner.

"We've made a couple plays together, but this is a big one," said Maya, who led the Millers in scoring with 20 goals in the regular season. Marli finished sixth on the team in assists four.

Washburn co-head coach Reuben Ndely said the sisters are hitting their chemistry peak at the correct time.

"You'd think that (because) they're sisters - as far as playing soccer - they should be very close, but they're just starting to know each other on the field," he said. "They're starting to have that sister-sister connection now and it's just starting to blossom."  

The Millers (13-3), ranked No. 4 in the Class 2A coaches’ poll, registered their first goal when sophomore attacker Lydia Ruppert pushed the ball past Cretin-Derham Hall sophomore goalie Liz Wirt in the seventh minute.

The lone goal for the Raiders (6-8-2) came off the foot of junior midfielder Molly Ploetz, who fired a shot from 30 yards out past Washburn junior goalie Taylor Cottew in the 14th minute. 

Cottew got a hand on the ball but not enough to keep it from sailing over her head and into the net. 

Maya Rajacich and Ndely believe Cretin-Derham Hall is better than its seventh-seed, but Rajacich said it doesn't matter what the seed the opposition is.

"No matter who you play, they come to play and they come to win,” Rajacich said. “Coming in, we all knew this was going to be a challenge and we had to play our game."   

The Millers face the winner of the Robbinsdale Armstrong-Hopkins game in the semifinals Saturday at Washburn High School.

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