Maybe Centennial coach Ginger Flohaug has found a new strategy.

After a regular season in which the Cougars rarely trailed, they found themselves on the losing end of a 1-0 score at halftime of their semifinal game Tuesday against Andover, their third consecutive game which they’d fallen behind early.

No worries. The Cougars rallied again, scoring two goals in the second half to defeat their Northwest Suburban rival 2-1 and advance to the Class 2A championship game for the first time in team history. Ashley Ebeling got the game-winner for Centennial (17-0-3) in the 69th minute.

“We trailed in both our section final against Maple Grove and our first state tournament game, so we tried to draw from that experience,” Flohaug said of the Cougars’ second-half approach. 

Andover (16-3-1) had taken the lead 1-0 on Megan Vatne’s solo effort in the 22nd minute, giving the Cougars a reason for concern. “They were outworking us and we’re not a team that gets outworked,” Flohaug said.

Ebeling said her team was confident but acknowledged a slight case of nerves before the second half. “We knew there were 40 minutes left to play and we had come back before, but there was a little stress,” she said.

The Cougars came out in the second half with a renewed energy. They got the equalizer from McKenna Gieske, who took a pass from Meghan Wilson and nailed a sinking liner from 20 yards to tie the game 1-1 in the 61st minute.

“That de-stressed us,” Ebeling said, who added the go-ahead goal eight minutes later. It was Ebeling’s fourth goal of the season against Andover.
“She doesn’t walk that side of town now,” Flohaug said with a laugh.

Jim Paulsen • 612-673-7737

Centennial scored two goals in the second half to rally past Northwest Suburban Conference rival Andover for a 2-1 victory in the Class 2A girls' soccer semifinals Tuesday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Andover dominated the first half and took a 1-0 lead on Megan Vatne's goal in the 22nd minute.

Centennial picked up the offensive pressure after halftime and got equalizer from McKenna Gieske in the 61st minute. The Cougars grabbed the lead in the 69th minute on Ashley Ebeling.

Check back later for more on the game.