It often takes an experienced roster to stand out as a top-10 team in the state rankings and compete for a section championship.
With a starting lineup of nine seniors, it is not surprising one of those 12th graders, Ashley Bennett, found the back of the net to break a scoreless tie in a big spot. The senior midfielder drove a kick to the upper, far corner of the Rochester Century net, delivering the game’s only goal with less than eight minutes left on the clock.
The 1-0 win advanced Lakeville North to the Class 3A, Section 1 championship game.
“It felt so good because we got one over there, but they called it off,” said Bennett, motioning to the opposite goal where it appeared Lakeville North had scored late in the first half of the game. “We were just waiting to get one. And we finally did right at the end, and it felt really good.”
Better late than never for Ashley Bennett and the Lakeville North girls’ soccer team.
It took more than 70 minutes, but the Lakeville North offense did just enough to earn a spot in the Class 3A, Section 1 championship game in a 1-0 victory vs. Rochester Century (11-5-2, 9-2-0) in Lakeville Thursday.
After Lakeville North (14-2-1, 8-1-0) held possession for most of the game, the senior midfielder Bennett drove a kick to the far, upper corner of the Rochester Century goal with less than eight minutes remaining to break the scoreless tie.
Lakeville North thought they had scored with 27 seconds remaining in the first half, but a potential goal by Macy Zins was waived off due to a foul.
Rochester Century goalkeeper Kate Kopp made 10 saves in the 1-0 loss.
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