CLOQUET — St. Scholastica men’s soccer coach Barry Chastey was in attendance at the boys soccer match between Cloquet-Esko-Carlton and Duluth Denfeld on Tuesday at Bromberg Field.
Chastey’s loyalties undoubtedly were on the side of the Hunters, where his son, Keegan, is the star player.
But the coach in Chastey must have liked what he saw on the Lumberjacks’ sideline as CEC dismantled Denfeld 11-0 in a game that put the winners in firm control atop the Lake Superior Conference.
Freshman Elijah Aultman netted four goals and senior Drake Schramm had two in an eight-goal first-half outburst by the Lumberjacks (8-0 overall, 4-0 LSC).
“We came out ready for a fight and wanted it a little more today,” said CEC coach Dave Bergan, whose team likely will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Section 7A playoffs. “Denfeld is always a tough team, and I guarantee we’re going to see them in the playoffs and it’s not going to end up this way.”
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Ryan Tomsche’s header in the second minute started CEC on its rampage. Schramm converted a penalty kick in the 15th minute for a 2-0 lead and later drilled in a shot from atop the penalty area to give him 14 goals this season, according to mnsoccerhub.com.
Bergan said moving Schramm from midfield to forward allowed him to succeed.
“I realized I was playing him in the wrong spot,” Bergan said of the 2019 season. “As soon as I put him up at forward, it was a natural position for him. He shines up there.”
Schramm credits his teammates for inflating his statistics and for the one-sided outcome Tuesday.
“We just let the ball do the running for us. We really trust our outside mids and they got the job done for us today,” he said. “My teammates give me the ball and I have been able to score. It’s all up to them.”
It doesn’t hurt to have players such as Elijah and Jordan Aultman, a pair of brothers from Sierra Leone, coming off the bench.
“The Aultmans bring their own flair to the game and I love having them around,” Bergan said. “I feel very fortunate.”
Elijah, a freshman, struck three times in the first half and added the closing goal in the final minutes to give him 11 this season. Jordan, a sophomore, drilled home a shot from inside the penalty area for his sixth goal on the year, part of the first-half onslaught.
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“The first half we were going hard on them,” Elijah Aultman said. “This game was so good for us. This game gives us a lot of confidence.”
Schramm, the Aultmans and senior Joe Baker were among the Lumberjacks whose display of accuracy was astounding. Seemingly every shot was perfectly placed on goal.
That accuracy level was something lacking last season, Bergan said.
“Last year we were able to possess (the ball) really well and we weren’t able to finish well,” the coach said. “That’s something that we really focused on this year, getting that ball in the net, and it’s paid off.”
Count Denfeld coach Scott Anderson among those impressed.
“They weren’t missing anything tonight and guys were in the right spot," Anderson said. "They played the complete game today."
The Hunters (5-3, 3-1) lost top scorer Chastey to a sprained right ankle in the first half, but even his departure couldn’t account for the disparity between the teams.
“The bottom line is we were outworked, outplayed and outmanned,” Anderson said. “They were double- and triple-teaming every man on the ball and we couldn’t solve it. We got our heads out of the game, and when that happens you are done.”
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Duluth Denfeld 0-0—0
Cloquet-EC 8-3—11
First half — 1. Ryan Tomsche, 2nd minute; 2. Drake Schramm (pk), 15th; 3. Elijah Aultman, 23rd; 4. Jordan Aultman, 30th; 5. Schramm, 34th; 6. E. Aultman, 36th; 7. E. Aultman, 38th; 8. Joe Baker, 39th.
Second half — 9. Jack Slater, 60th; 10. Slater, 66th; 11. E. Aultman, 72nd.
Goalies — Demetri Regas, DD; Conrad Lazzaro, DD; Lucas Rauner, CEC.
