Advertisement

Class A boys state soccer: St. Paul Academy 6, Maranatha Christian Academy 0

pioneer press
·1 min read

St. Paul Academy continued its destruction of the Class A playoff with another dominant performance in Tuesday’s state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. The fourth-seeded Spartans blanked Maranatha Academy 6-0 to advance to Friday’s 7:15 p.m. championship game.

That victory came off the heels of St. Paul Academy’s 6-0 quarterfinal victory over St. Cloud Cathedral in the state quarterfinals. Including section playoffs, St. Paul Academy has outscored its opponents 22-0 this postseason.

Tuesday’s scoring started quickly for the Spartans, with John Sullivan burying a goal just 78 seconds into play. That early strike opened the flood gates. Yash Kshirsagar — who assisted on Sullivan’s score — added a pair of first-half goals.

The Spartans led 4-0 at halftime.

Cooper Bollinger-Danielson, Nathan Cohen and Tommy Verhey also scored, while Ezra Straub assisted on a pair of goals. After opening the season 3-3-2, St. Paul Academy is now riding an 11-game unbeaten streak into the final. The Spartans have held their opponents scoreless in nine of those contests.

Unseeded Maranatha Academy, which upset top-seeded Southwest Christian Academy in the quarterfinals, moves onto the third-place game. Friday will mark the Spartans’ first title game appearance since 2012, when they fell in a shootout to Rochester Lourdes.

St. Paul Academy’s last title came in 1994.

Related Articles