Cathedral boys soccer undefeated with only one opposing goal scored
SAINT CLOUD – In 11 games this season, the St. Cloud Cathedral boys soccer team has only allowed one opposing goal, building a perfect record in addition to opening a nine-game shutout.
Minnewaska (3-3-4) was the only team to score that goal, by way of a long kick from Connor Quelle and a flying run from Jose Contreras Mondragon on Sept. 21 in the teams’ second meeting this season.
Cathedral rebounded by recording its 10th shutout with a 7-0 win over St. John’s Prep (2-6) on Tuesday, a week after winning its 100th consecutive Granite Ridge Conference match.
“I think this was a spark plug game where we get scored on once and it doesn’t happen again for a while,” junior goaltender Noah Henderson said. “Knock on wood, but I think we can continue to have a bunch of success in keeping the ball out of the net and keeping our forwards up and attacking.”
The team was voted No. 4 in Class A in the most recent Minnesota State High School Soccer Coaches Association poll behind Holy Family Catholic (6-2-2), Minnehaha Academy (6-4) and Breck (7-2-1).
After the game against Minnewaska, senior defender Jake Plante said he’d rather the goal come now than in a critical moment during the playoffs. He was concerned with the team being overconfident by a seemingly impenetrable defense. He and Philip O'Neal play fullback along with Griffin Sturm and Elias Drong on the outside.
Henderson has played the majority of minutes in goal for Cathedral, only allowing the one score and building a .957 save percentage in his second-ever season playing soccer. But he has only needed to make 22 saves, a testament to the skills of his defense in preventing dangerous runs.
Cathedral coach Alex Hess said Plante and the more lighthearted O’Neal sometimes make for an interesting dynamic in the backfield, but they work well together.
“The back line is a family,” Henderson said. “They’re connected as one all the time and they make sure that they're clearing balls out and nothing gets to me for the most part
The old mantra that defense wins championships was proven last year, when the Crusaders had a similar strong start. They won 13 games in a row, including a section championship and went 17-1 before a bitter 6-0 loss to St. Paul Academy in the state quarterfinal. The Spartans eventually beat St. Anthony in the Class 1A state championship to complete their own shutout streak of six games to end the 2022 season.
“That game sticks in our head,” Plante said.
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Hess said he likes his team’s calmness with the ball and the players’ ability to follow gameplans.
“The guys are very good at receiving the coaching that we give them, and we can make that on the fly,” he said.
Jacob Oliver leads the Crusaders in goals this season with 17, averaging nearly two per game. He also has nine assists, overtaking Jack Stang’s total of eight for best on the team. Stang has netted 16 goals this year. Hess loves that he can rotate Connor Stockman, Cole Hwang and Blake Newiger into the game, benifiting from fresh legs and offensive contribution from the centers and wings.
“Practicing against some of our reserves is like playing against the best guys we have,” Plante said. “It’s different from a starting 11 because we know what they’re like but they really press us and we understand what we need to do in practice. That’s where it starts.”
Cathedral will have two litmus tests in the next week as it plays Thursday against No. 6 Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa (7-0-1) and Saturday in the final home game of the year against the solid Class 2A Alexandria (5-2-3) Cardinals.
Three away games later and the Section 8-1A tournament starts Oct. 10 at the home field of the high seed in the matchup.
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Cathedral boys soccer undefeated with nine-game shutout streak
