Photo Gallery: White Bear Lake vs. East Ridge
There was a lot at stake between East Ridge and White Bear Lake in the Class 2A, Section 4 semifinal Saturday. While East Ridge was trying to take another step closer to the state tournament for the third straight season, White Bear Lake was playing to get over the section semifinal hurdle — a game it has lost every year since 2015.
East Ridge (14-2-1) triumphed in a close battle with rival White Bear (11-5-1) thanks to a game-winning header from senior Delaney Goertzen.
The defender knew she needed to take a gamble with the match on the line in the late stages of the game.
“Going into that corner, I could sense some of my girls were hanging their heads because it was tied and White Bear had the up on us, so I just knew going into that I had to do something to make a difference,” Goertzen said. “I saw it come in and I was just like, ‘I need to go for this and put it in no matter what.’ That’s our mentality at East Ridge — you sacrifice everything because this is a family.”
With Section 4 being one of the toughest brackets in the state, according to Raptors coach Tim Bunnell, he didn’t want the match to go to overtime and risk a loss to a competitive Bears team. Bunnell was relieved when Goertzen’s header found the back of the net, helping the Raptors advance to yet another section final.
“Delaney’s been a great leader,” Bunnell said. “All three of our captains Linnea Yacovella, Madison Majewski, and Delaney Goertzen have been super leaders. [Goertzen’s] leadership has grown throughout the year, it’s been good to see that with her.”
Morgan Werner assisted Mackenzie Werner to put Eastridge up 1-0 in the opening minutes of the match, but struggled to put away the Bears. With 22 minutes remaining, White Bear Lake struck.
Erika Townley smashed the ball from about 37 yards. The ball soared into the top right corner of the net, and the White Bear Lake fans erupted into a cheer.
“It was a phenomenal shot,” Bears coach John Dierkhising said. “I was saying at halftime, ‘We need something positive to go our way and then we can build off of that.’ Our senior captain to hit a shot like that really invigorated us. I told her she’ll never forget that hit.”
Two minutes later, Goertzen sent her team a message.
“It’s about a more personal level,” Goertzen said. “I will go up to girls, pat them on the back and say, ‘We got this, we know what we can do, and this means nothing.’ Especially this year, every time the other team has scored on us we bounced back.”
That mindset and leadership from Goertzen and her teammates was enough to reach the section final. Section final appearances are nothing new for the Raptors having won its previous two. East Ridge will face Stillwater on Tuesday.
Goertzen has bigger goals for her side at the state tournament.
“If we make it out of this section on top, we will do great things at state,” Goertzen said. “We’re really hungry this year because we made it the past two years and lost in the first round. We’re kind of frustrated and mad that we haven’t done anything at state.”