Quantcast
skip navigation

Laklia scores twice to lead Hill-Murray past Columbia Heights in the Class 2A, Section 4 final

By Luke Hanlon, SportsEngine, 10/18/22, 3:45PM CDT

Share

Jeronimo Laklia tallied both goals in the 2-1 victory to keep the Pioneers' undefeated season alive.


Hill-Murray's Jacob Dinzeo celebrated his second-half assist on Jeronimo Laklia's game-winning goal in the Pioneers' 2-1 victory over Columbia Heights. Photo by Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngine

For the fifth consecutive year, Hill-Murray made it to the section final. The past four years, the Pioneers fell short of a section championship. On Tuesday night they bucked that trend, defeating Columbia Heights 2-1 to take the Class 2A, Section 4 championship and make it to the state tournament for the first time since 2013. 

Hill-Murray head coach Jeff Zupfer had a simple message for his team before the section final game to help bring them out of their four-year slump. 

“Every two weeks we’ve kind of put together a progress goal and on the board tonight our message was ‘performance equals results equals getting to play together for another week’,” Zupfer said.



Hill-Murray's Ryan O'Connor (20) got his pass past Columbia Heights goalkeeper Mark Agudo Medina (0). The result was a goal for Jeronimo Laklia and a 1-0 lead for the Pioneers. Photo by Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngine

First report

Hill-Murray is moving on to the Class 2A state tournament after winning the Section 4 championship game with a 2-1 victory against Columbia Heights on Tuesday night. 

The Pioneers (19-0-0, 8-0-0) got on the board first thanks to Jeronimo Laklia only minutes after he first hit the post. A long ball was played into a dangerous area in the box and it got deflected to Laklia’s feet. He buried the ball into an open net to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead.

The Pioneers got close to doubling their lead later in the second half. After a foul was called just outside of the box, Taylor Petrich hit a screamer off a free kick that blasted off the crossbar. 

The Pioneers did extend their lead less than two minutes into the second half. Jacob Denzio beat a defender with his speed and strength and got a shot off from a tight angle. His shot was saved, but he regained control of the rebound and centered the ball to Laklia, who tucked away his second goal. 

The Hylanders (13-2-0, 7-1-0) answered back less than six minutes later as Deivis Cabrera Bunay scored after the ball leaked through a crowd of bodies from a free kick sent into the box by Jason Carpio. 

MN Soccer Hub polls are for entertainment purposes only. 

Soccer Hub Headlines

MN high school sports
MN high school sports recruiting
MN high school boys soccer
MN high school recruits MN high school sports recruiting news