It took 100 minutes of a scoreless drought before penalty kicks would decide Thursday's Class 1A state quarterfinal matchup between No. 4 seed Holy Angels and No. 5 seed Princeton at St. Cloud State's Husky Stadium.
Despite being heavily outshot and outplayed for long stretches by the Stars, the Tigers are moving on with a 1-0 victory.
Princeton converted four of its five penalty kicks in the shootout, one better than Holy Angels, and advanced into a semifinal meeting against No. 1 seed Benilde-St. Margaret's on Nov. 4 in St. Cloud.
“Neither team deserves to lose on a shootout,” Princeton coach Pat Arens said afterward. “It’s not even the same game, it’s something else.”
Still, the Tigers are moving on, not so much for what they did offensively, but for what they did to take away that of Holy Angels’.
The Stars held the upper hand for most of the match, both in terms of time on the attack and shots, though Princeton's few chances produced quality over quantity, especially in the second half. Holy Angels finished with 24 shots to the Tigers' 7.
“Princeton is a heck of a defensive team,” Stars coach David Marshak said. “They gave us a bit of a puzzle with the way they defended, and we didn’t solve it.”
The Tigers' strategy to keep a lid on Holy Angels’ scoring opportunities included switching its formation to a 4-5-1 as Princeton went defensive heavy in its approach as a countermeasure to a strong passing team on a wide field.
It frustrated the Stars more and more as time went on and drove them into bad habits.
“We could see some bad patterns beginning to develop,” Marshak said. “Too much dribbling up front and not attacking the end lines like we were supposed to. It just really wasn’t our night. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Holy Angels methodically moved the ball upfield using short and crisp passing, along with stout ball control, to create scoring chances. But the Tigers defense proved a tough nut to crack and left the Stars frustrated as time went on.
Holy Angels hadn’t allowed a goal in its previous four games, a stretch dating back to a 3-1 victory over St. Agnes on Oct. 6. In the quarterfinal against Princeton, the Stars’ offense could not provide.
“I think we played hard and well but individually tonight,” Marshak said. “We weren’t playing the combinations we usually see. I think we made it unnecessarily hard on ourselves by getting away from some of the things that got us here.”
Another big reason for Holy Angels' scoring troubles was the play of Tigers sophomore goalkeeper Eden Betzler, who finished the night with 15 saves and the shutout.
Betzler credits the program’s experience at state last year with helping it prepare mentally for this trip. Last October, Princeton, five years removed from starting its varsity program, qualified for its first tournament. It ended with a harsh, 5-0 whipping by Hill-Murray in the quarterfinals, and nobody involved felt particularly good about the showing.
This year would be different, the Tigers felt.
“We came this year with a more competitive attitude, and it showed,” Betzler said. “We are moving on.”
Arens feels this victory serves as one big step for the blossoming soccer community in Princeton.
“To return to the state tournament for a second straight time and win a game...it does a lot to justify all the hard work the people of the community have put into this program,” he said. “I think on this roster, 14 of the 22 players have had their parents coach soccer at one time or another. It’s a community effort.”
