Woodbury's Madison Nelson (14) and Burnsville's Natalie Muench (13) competed for control of the ball Friday in the Blaze's 1-0 win. Star Tribune photo by Marlin Levison.
An offsides call would have wiped it out anyway, but a shot by Woodbury’s Emily Erickson trickled just wide of a yawning net with about 15 minutes to play in the Royals’ Class 2A girls’ soccer quarterfinal against Burnsville. She slammed her palm to the Park High School turf in frustration, personifying 80 minutes of soccer for the second-seeded team.
It can often be a game of inches. But Friday, Blaze sophomore Abby Soderholm scored on a free kick from 32 yards out in the 49th minute to give unseeded Burnsville a 1-0 victory and a trip to the Metrodome.
“The way the game was going, I knew I had to make that one for my team,” said Soderholm, who thumped a second free-kick chance off the cross bar from the exact same spot later in the game. “It was a lot of pressure, but I just stepped up, kicked it and it went in.”
Finding the back of the net was a struggle for both teams all evening.
Leading scorers Alyssa Blahnik and Bailly Drayton each had golden chances for the Blaze in the first half. On the other end of the field, Burnsville keeper Meghann Rudolph batted the ball away from a three-player Woodbury scrum with 14 minutes to play in the first half then denied Madison Nelson point-blank with 90 seconds left in the half to keep it scoreless after 40 minutes.
The Royals got the better opportunities as the game wore on, but Rudolph was never out of position and relied on strong play from defenders Hannah Keirstead, Natalie Muench and Sarah Poythress in front of her.
It preserved Burnsville’s 11th shutout of the season.
“One of those games where it could have gone either way and we’re happy things went our way,” said Blaze coach John Soderholm, Abby’s uncle. “Our girls played very well against a very good team.”
