Duluth East's William Francis celebrated after one of his two goals in the first half against Minnetonka on Wednesday in the Class 2A semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. Photo: Jerry Holt • Jerry.holt@startribune.com
One superior striker and one grudging goalie proved enough to send Duluth East to the Class 2A championship game.
Forward Will Francis scored on both of the opportunities he got and goalkeeper Oliver Hasler stopped everything that came his way to lift the No. 1-seeded Greyhounds to a 2-0 victory over Minnetonka on Wednesday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“With Oliver in the net and Will up top, we’ve been a pretty solid team,” Duluth East coach Corey Bachand said. “We’re hard to beat in an 80-minute game.”
Minnetonka (14-3-4) tried. The Skippers controlled the action for most of the game, with much of the play in the Duluth East end of the field. They won the total shots battle 15-5, had six shots on goal to just three for Duluth East, and had six corner kicks to one for the Greyhounds.
Photo gallery: Class 2A semifinals
“Oliver Hasler is a great keeper,” Minnetonka coach Mike Rogers said. “We generated a lot of great shots and we just didn’t get the ball past him. We can’t say we didn’t have our chances.”
Duluth East (19-0-2), making its fifth state tournament appearance and second in two years, made the most of the few chances it got.
Francis’ first goal came as a result of slick passing between Cal Goerdt, Seth Hoffman and Francis. Goerdt and Hoffman worked a give-and-go down the left side. With the defense occupied, Hoffman deftly slid a pass to Francis, who booted in a 12-yarder at 15:56 of the first half for the game’s first goal.
Francis was in the right place and the right time 10 minutes later, taking advantage of a collision between Minnetonka’s Sergio Rivas and goalkeeper Luca Vereecken that resulted in a loose ball. Francis calmly knocked it in for a 2-0 lead.
“This is exactly what I wanted before the season,” said Francis, who now has 29 goals in 21 games. “We’re one game away from the state championship. It feels amazing.”
First report
Duluth East didn’t have a lot of chances, but the Greyhounds took full advantage of the ones that came their way Wednesday against Minnetonka.
William Francis scored twice in the first half – the only two shots on goal the No. 1-seeded Greyhounds had in the game – and spent the second half repelling the Skippers’ offense en route to a 2-0 victory in the Class 2A semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Francis drilled home a perfect feed from teammate Seth Hoffman at 15:56 of the first half for a 1-0 lead. Francis was in perfect position for his second goal 10 minutes later, when Minnetonka’s Sergio Rivas and goalkeeper Luca Vereecken collided in front their own goal. Francis swept in and cleaned up the loose ball, giving Duluth East a 2-0 lead.
Check back later for more on the game.
