Duluth Marshall and Section 7A boys soccer received some respect with a No. 5 seed at the Minnesota Class A state tournament meeting Sunday. Now, the Hilltoppers have to prove the placement was warranted.
"I'm satisfied with No. 5," Marshall coach Mike Sengbush said. "It was what we were aiming for."
The coaches of the state tournament teams have determined the seeding for three years, with the previous Section 7A representatives -- Grand Rapids in 2005 and Marshall in 2006 -- tabbed as the eighth and last seed.
Marshall (19-2) will play fourth-seeded South St. Paul (13-4-4) in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. today at Mounds View High School.
"Those other teams at state are familiar with each other, and Section 7 and 8 are on the outside looking in," said Sengbush, who disagreed with last year's seeding. "St. Cloud Cathedral [Section 8] is eighth and we got some respect based on our record and the fact that we have seven returners from last year's state tournament team."
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Last year, Marshall lost to No. 1 seed Benilde-St. Margaret's of St. Louis Park 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
"I think we have to prove our seeding and redeem ourselves from last year," Sengbush said. "We want nothing more than to have our seniors play in the Metrodome."
For the Hilltoppers to reach the semifinals in the Metrodome, they will need to beat the Packers, who Sengbush described as "hardworking" and "physical."
"They are a no-finesse team," Sengbush said. "They have strong midfield play, and that matches our strength."
The Hilltoppers are led by their senior midfielders, captains Jesse Geary and Doug Frey, who have combined for 60 points this year, while South St. Paul's top scorers, forwards Sam Price and Dylan Urban, accounted for 39 points this season.
"We are going to take the same approach as we did toward Duluth East and [forward Rob] Johnson," Sengbush said of Price and Urban, who accounted for 53 percent of the Packers' scoring. "We are going to use Blake Erickson, Mickey Huska and John Fox as marks on their two forwards. We have to identify where they are."
Geordie Diener, one of Marshall's top scorers with 24 points, sprained his ankle during the Hilltoppers' 1-0 victory over Duluth East in the section championship and remains questionable for today's game.
"State is where we wanted to be all year," Frey said Thursday. "We're going to need Diener there."
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Sengbush doesn't see a marquee team in this year's field -- like last year's champion Benilde-St. Margaret's.
"There isn't that super team this year," Sengbush said. "Fridley [the No. 3 seed] might be that hot team, but Blake [No. 2] was undefeated, and Benilde [No. 1] is the defending champ. It should be interesting."
Area Players Namedto All-state teams
Eight area boys and girls soccer players were selected to all-state teams by the Minnesota Coaches Association.
Frey, Brandon Stemwedel of Grand Rapids, Chris Umpierre of Cloquet-Esko-Carlton and Johnson and Evan Odean of Duluth East are on the Class A boys team.
Megan Stingle of Duluth East was named to the Class AA girls team, while Amanda Bergstedt of Esko-Carlton and Jessica Vork of Cloquet were picked for the Class A team.
The honorable-mention players were Geary, Dillon Friday (East) and Tyler Marquardt (CEC) for Class A boys, with Jillian Kratt (Marshall), Samantha Swenson (Esko-Carlton) and Janae Baron and Kaylee Steen (Hermantown) for Class A girls.
ANDY GREDER covers high school soccer for the News Tribune. He can be reached at (218) 723-5315 or by e-mail at agreder@duluthnews.com
