After losing badly to Hermantown and Duluth Marshall in their first matchups against the Lake Superior Conference rivals, Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys soccer players realized something needed to change.
So they heeded coach Archie Clark's demands to be more physical.
"Our team wasn't known as being physical," senior defender-midfielder Hunter Leon said. "But once we saw that we needed to be in order to beat those powerhouse teams, we changed it up. Once we've played physical, we've been rolling over the big teams."
The results speak for themselves.
The Lumberjacks defeated Hermantown 3-1 and Marshall 3-2 in rematches, and slipped past the top-seeded Hilltoppers 1-0 in overtime in last week's Section 7A final to qualify for their inaugural state tournament.
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"Hermantown is always physical, and if we're not physical back then we can't keep up with them," goalkeeper Jarad Weeks said. "We were physical that (second game), it carried on the rest of the season, and here we are."
CEC (14-3-2) faces second-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret's (16-2-1) in a Minnesota Class A quarterfinal at 5:30 p.m. today at St. Cloud State.
Clark said it didn't take long for the players to understand the requested change.
"When they saw the results, they said to themselves, 'This isn't working out too bad, maybe this is the way we should be playing,' " he said. "There's nothing like success to make that evident."
A different approach, however, may be necessary against Benilde-St. Margaret's. The Red Knights have outscored foes 92-7 and have five players with at least nine goals and 15 points (CEC has one).
"I don't think (being physical) will work because they have so many good players who can put the ball in the net," said Leon, who marked Marshall's top player John Fox and held him without a quality scoring chance. "You almost have to do that to every player (on Benilde)."
Clark is preaching a more diligent and patient defending approach.
"You can't be too physical and dive into tackles and let them step around you," he said. "They have players who can step around you, and then they have the numbers going forward and we don't have numbers back to defend. In a game like this, if you give up two, three goals you really have your work cut out for you."
