Duluth East's Jackson Manthey scored early in the second half for the only goal of this defensive battle.
Manthey redirected a pass from teammate Seth Hoffman under the sprawling Panthers goalkeeper 29 seconds into the second half.
The tight match contrasted with the teams’ six previous section games in which they combined for 41 goals — each scored 10 goals once — in one-sided affairs.
“Normally, we score first,” Lakeville North senior midfielder Max Kent said. “It was a change. We just got scared and panicked. We felt pressure to get the ball forward and it kind of ruined our style of play.”
After taking the lead, the Greyhounds had a little momentum and used it to throttle the Panthers, who had few opportunities to get a good scoring chance.
“They just shut us down in the midfield,” Kent said. “It was hard to build up play. We couldn’t connect as forwards as we normally do.”
The Panthers finished with an 8-7 edge in shots on goal. Matthew Campbell recorded the shutout for the Greyhounds, including a sprawling save on Kent in the first half.
After Duluth East and Lakeville North combined to score 41 goals in their section tournament games, the Greyhouds came out with a 1-0 victory over the Panthers in a defensive battle in the state quarterfinal round.
Seth Hoffman slipped a shot off a pass from Jackson Manthey under the sprawling Panthers goalkeeper 29 seconds into the second half Wednesday at Chisago Lakes.
After taking the lead, the Greyhounds had a little momentum and gave the Panthers few opportunities to get a good scoring chance. Their best one came with just under 20 minutes left, but Greyhounds goalkeeper Matthew Campbell got a piece of the shot. Immediately after, the Panthers were denied a scoring chance because they were offside.
Check back later for more on the game.