Section 7A boys soccer playoffs: Duluth Marshall, East advance to Section championships

Duluth Marshall senior midfielders Jesse Geary and Doug Frey possess a special ability to know each other's location on the soccer field. Geary and Frey have fostered their relationship since they were 10-year-old teammates in the Gitchi Gummi junior league.

"We have a special bond on the field," Geary said. "We don't need to look and communicate to know what the other is thinking. That doesn't come unless you've played together as much as we have."

Geary assisted on two of Frey's three goals as the Hilltoppers beat Hermantown 3-2 in a Section 7A high school boys soccer semifinal game on a rainy Tuesday afternoon at Public Schools Stadium. East beat Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 2-0 in the other semifinal Tuesday night. The section final between Marshall and East is7 p.m. Thursday at PSS.

"It's a good thing [Geary and Frey] like each other," said Marshall coach Mike Sengbush. "Without one, the other wouldn't be as good. It's uncanny -- one will [pass it] and the other will finish. It could be Doug to Jesse or Jesse to Doug, it doesn't matter. We are lucky to have them."

Hermantown's Danny Strapple scored the first goal off his own rebound in the 14th minute.

"They jumped out on us," Sengbush said. "But we got Doug and Jesse and things went the way I thought they would."

Marshall (18-2) has beaten Hermantown (15-4) three times this season, including 3-2 on Aug. 25 and 3-0 on Oct. 5.

"It's always super difficult to beat a team three times," said Geary, who passed to a streaking Frey for the first goal, while the two connected off a corner kick 16 minutes later. "We came out flat and it's not easy to deal with because Hermantown plays very aggressive."

Frey completed his hat trick in the 80th minute, while Hermantown's Zach Abukhodair scored seconds later to bring it back to a one-goal margin.

Patrick Sheedy and the Hilltoppers held possession for the majority of the second half.

"[Sheedy] is only a freshman, but he is a good possession player," Sengbush said. "We had eight or nine corner kicks and had the ball down there a lot."

Marshall controlled play, while Geary and Frey finished it off.

Hermantown 1-1--2

Duluth Marshall 2-1--3

First half -- 1. H, Danny Strapple, 14th minute. 2. DM, Doug Frey (Jesse Geary) 19th. 3. DM, Frey (Geary) 35th.

Second half -- 4. DM, Frey (Geordie Diener) 80th. 5. H, Zach Abukhodair (Colton Maddy, Jacob Flanagan) 80th.

Saves -- Blake Hewitt, H, 9. Derek Randall, DM, 4.

Duluth East 2,Cloquet-EC 0

Duluth East coach Eirik Rennan said his Greyhounds experienced a "hangover" in the 0-0 tie on Oct. 1 with the Lumberjacks.

That lull is a distant memory now as East scored two first-half goals to win a Section 7A semifinal at PSS.

"We had lost our pep in our step, but I was nervous tonight in facing [CEC goalie Tyler] Marquardt because he shut us out for 90 minutes last time," said Rennan, whose team has won three-straight games.

East's Anders Sandholm scored the game's first goal with a header off a corner kick from Mitchell Johnson in the 33rd minute.

"That first goal was big because it took the pressure off, because our offense possesses the ball better then," Rennan said. "Our mindset at that point was they needed to score two to beat us."

Joe Nelson scored the second goal three minutes later for East (15-3-2).

Goalie Tyler Marquardt had six saves, including a second-half shutout, for CEC (12-4-1).

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 0-0--0

Duluth East 2-0--2

First half -- 1. Anders Sandholm (Mitchell John son) 33rd minute. 2. Joe Nelson (Rob Johnson) 36 th.

Second half -- no scoring.

Saves -- Evan Odean, DE, 5. Tyler Marquardt, CEC, 6.

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 .