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Seeds of prep soccer success sown all over the west metro

By JIM PAULSEN, Star Tribune, 10/07/14, 5:41PM CDT

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The boys and girls’ soccer section playoffs get underway this week. The west metro has long been a hotbed of soccer, with 17 state champions and 36 championship-game appearances by its teams — both boys and girls — since 2005.

The boys and girls’ soccer section playoffs get underway this week. The west metro has long been a hotbed of soccer, with 17 state champions and 36 championship-game appearances by its teams — both boys and girls — since 2005.

Here is a look at the section playoffs as they pertain to area teams:

Boys

Class 2A: In Section 2, Minnetonka earned the top seed seed. The Skippers spent a good portion of the season ranked No. 1 before slipping to No. 3 after a pair of late-season ties. Bloomington Jefferson, which won the inaugural Metro West Conference title, is seeded second. ... Undefeated Maple Grove was the obvious choice for the No. 1 seed in Section 5. Osseo was seeded third despite finishing the regular season with a 2-3-1 record. ... Lake Conference runner-up Wayzata was seeded No. 1 in Section 6 while Hopkins earned the No. 2 seed over St. Louis Park, largely on the strength of the Royals’ 4-3 victory over the Orioles on Sept. 4. Hopkins went 8-5-3 overall but was a perfect 8-0 outside of conference play.

Class 1A: As of 1 p.m. Monday, the Section 3 pairings had not been announced. Expect top-ranked Minneapolis Washburn to be seeded No. 1, likely followed by Holy Angels. ... DeLaSalle parlayed an undefeated Tri-Metro Conference season and a stingy defense that posted 10 shutouts into the top seed in Section 5. ... Breck earned the top spot in Section 6, but seeding Chaska at No. 2 over Orono, which finished the season with eight straight victories, was a surprise.

Girls

Class 2A: Eden Prairie, whose only two losses of the season were to Wayzata, was seeded No. 1 in Section 2. ... Maple Grove’s 1-0 loss to Centennial on Sept. 16 cost the Crimson the top seed in Section 5. It was seeded No. 2 behind Centennial, with the hopes of a rematch in the section final. ... The most competitive section might be Section 6, where Wayzata, ranked No. 10 in the final Class 2A state poll, was seeded No. 1 over Armstrong, which was ranked No. 8.

Class 1A: Not seeded at press time. As with the boys, expect undefeated Minneapolis Washburn to get the top seed by virtue of its season-ending victory over Blake. ... Park Center was an easy choice as the top seed in Section 5. All three of the Pirates’ losses came to Class 2A teams. ... Orono took the top seed in Section 6 with defending state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s seeded No. 2 and Waconia No. 3.

 

Jim Paulsen • 612-673-7737