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Lourdes dumps Duluth Marshall

By JASON GONZALEZ, Star Tribune, 10/29/12, 4:00PM CDT

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The Eagles avenged their only loss this season and will play St. Paul Academy for the Class 1A title.

Rochester Lourdes never thought it would get the opportunity to avenge its only loss of the season. When a disqualification gave it the chance, the Eagles never let up.

A 5-0 victory against Duluth Marshall in the boys' soccer Class A state semifinals Monday at the Metrodome helped make up for Marshall putting the lone flaw in the Eagles' 21-1 record.

"I'm just glad we got another chance at it," Rochester Lourdes senior Karl Krecke said. "We had a different attitude and we showed them what we got this season."

Marshall advanced to the semifinals after would-be opponent Prairie Seeds Academy, which defeated Lourdes in last year's state tournament, was disqualified for an ineligible player.

That set up a rematch of the two teams' second game of the season and it produced a very different result.

The Hilltoppers were overmatched from the beginning as the Eagles scored in the fifth minute of the game and led 3-0 at halftime. Alan Schembri-Wismayer scored the first two goals, followed by another from Johnny Lawson.

The game's biggest goal came 15 seconds into the second half. Duluth Marshall kicked off, but directly into the Rochester Lourdes defense and Jack Convery took advantage of the mistake. Convery, who finished with two assists, found Gabe Solerno breaking toward the goal for an easy score.

"Scoring 15 seconds into the half changes the mindset," Schembri-Wismayer said. Eagles coach Tom Kane called it the nail in the coffin.

The Eagles wouldn't let up. Tim Wente came off the bench to add a final goal late in the game.

The Section 1 champ advances to face Section 3 champion St. Paul Academy in Thursday's 12:30 p.m. championship game.

Duluth Marshall senior forward Matthew Klassen hinted that the quarterfinals forfeiture may have led to the Hilltoppers' poor performance.

"Not letting us play hurt our expectations on how high the competition would be here," said Klassen, who had the Hilltoppers' best opportunity for a goal stopped by the Eagles' diving goalkeeper Will Elder. "I personally wanted to play [on Friday].