Mayo's improbable run finally ends in state semifinals

Nov. 3—MINNEAPOLIS — For the first time in four boys soccer playoff games, Mayo actually met a team that was not ranked.

That didn't matter. Mounds View turned out to be the Spartans' toughest test yet and Mayo — for the first time in 11 games — wasn't able to pass it.

No. 4-seeded Mounds View, controlling the game throughout with precise one-touch passes and finally riding a booming blast by All-State forward Sam Hoyt, ended Mayo's dream run. The Mustangs did it with a 2-0 win in the Class AAA state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium early Wednesday morning.

Mounds View's final goal came with 9 seconds left, on an easy breakaway after Mayo had pulled its goalie.

All of it sent the 15-4-0 and unseeded Spartans, who were in the state semifinals for just the second time in school history, into the third-place game against No. 2 seed Duluth East. It will be played at 9 a.m. Thursday at West St. Paul Athletics Center. Mounds View plays unseeded Rosemount in Saturday's championship.

"We couldn't connect our passes as well as we wanted and that's a credit to Mounds View," Mayo interim head coach Tim Jennings said. "They play very strong defensively."

So does Mayo. Entering the contest, the Spartans had allowed just six goals in their previous 10 games. That included playoff wins over top-10 ranked teams Century (2-1), Lakeville South (2-0) and Minneapolis Southwest (1-0, penalty kicks).

Mounds View also had a heck of a time penetrating Mayo's back line and their outstanding senior goalie, Jack Hobday.

The Mustangs found it impossible until 2:33 into the second half. That's when Hoyt, a finalist for Mr. Soccer, finally unleashed a shot that counted. And it might not have found the back of the net had it not been ever-so-slightly redirected. His rifled shot from 25 yards out glanced off the hip of a Mayo defender before finishing its altered path past goalie Hobday.

"That was an unlucky goal let in by us," Jennings said. "After that, we had to chase them."

It changed the entire game. While Mounds View had outplayed Mayo some before that, including having outshot the Spartans 4-1 to that point, it dominated the rest of the way.

Mayo was forced into a new, more offensive-alignment in order to try to catch up, with defensive players pushing up. Mounds View took advantage of that, suddenly getting a pack of scoring chances and making Hobday scramble to keep Mayo in it.

Hobday, one of Mayo's top goalies ever, was up to that task. He had one brilliant goal-saving deflection with his right hand, getting it done in close quarters. He also had another diving save, bouncing on a rolling attempt just before it crossed the scoring line.

Hobday was Hobday, including making sure he didn't take all of the credit for his work.

"It was hard back there, but our defense does a great job of making sure it's never too hard for me," Hobday said. "I only had two or three really tough shots to save."

Mayo had hoped to put the same kind of pressure on Mounds View goalie Aidan Petrich. But it had a tough time doing that, even after it went to its all-in offensive approach after falling behind. For the game, Mayo was outshot 12-2, including 9-1 after intermission.

Mayo created some havoc at times in Mounds View's end, but never did more than that.

So, instead of being able to celebrate another upset win, the Spartans were left reflecting on what an amazing run they'd been on, and how they'd done it together.

Not many picked Mayo to get this far. These Spartans understandably took great satisfaction in that.

"It's been so special to be a part of this team," Hobday said. "We'd hoped we'd have a good season and along the way we proved a lot of people wrong about us."

For all of their accomplishments and good times, Mayo midfielder Alex Shah heaped plenty of credit on Jennings, the Spartans' interim coach.

The senior said that Jennings went a long way toward building the Spartans into a unit.

"He brought everyone together ever since he came in," Shah said. "When he first showed up, we didn't know who was going to be captains or anything. But under him, we all became a family."

It's a family with one task left. It'll play for third place on Thursday.

"We are very proud and happy to be here," Jennings said. "And now we are looking forward to playing for third place."