Prep boys soccer: Chisago Lakes beats Marshall to earn first state berth

Mark Leigh decided to retire as Chisago Lakes boys soccer coach prior to his 16th season on the bench.

Turning 65 meant the coach could turn over duties to his younger assistant coaches.

But Leigh wanted just one thing before retirement: a Section 7A title.

Four previous times Leigh's teams reached a section final only to be denied. But on Thursday at Public Schools Stadium, his players gave him a great parting gift.

Ryan Mower scored two first-half goals and Nils Gulbranson, the state's leading goal-scorer, drilled home a free kick in the second half as the Wildcats downed a game Duluth Marshall squad 3-1 to send Chisago Lakes to its first state tournament.

Chisago Lakes (16-3-1) will find out Saturday who it plays in a Class A quarterfinal next week.

Marshall finished 11-8-1.

"It's feels surreal with the season that we've had - there were a lot of ups and downs - but in the end we're going to state and that's all I care about," said Gulbranson, who netted his 39th goal of the season and 88th of his career, both school records.

The lanky senior forward continually gave Hilltoppers defenders fits with his runs into the penalty area even though he sported a hefty cast on his right wrist, which he broke in two places in the Wildcats' ninth game of the season.

But he only missed the last four minutes of that Monticello game - during which he had one of his nine hat tricks this season - and was back in the lineup 36 hours later against Duluth Denfeld.

One of Gulbranson's runs into the box led to the first goal, less than eight minutes into the game. A pileup occurred as three defenders and goalkeeper Charles Eginton tried to stop Gulbranson and the ball squirted out to senior midfielder Ryan Mower.

"It was just sitting at the top of the box and I toe-poked it," Mower said.

Less than 10 minutes later, Mower again scored on a nice shot from the left side of the field as the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead into the locker room.

"We dug ourselves a hole a little too quickly with those guys," Marshall coach Mike Sengbush said of Gulbranson and Mower. "We got the first goal (in the second half) and then got an unfortunate call in a dangerous spot and (Gulbranson) put it in."

The Hilltoppers came out more aggressively in the second half and halved the deficit in the 51st minute as Ben Wallerstein, Marshall's leading goal-scorer, netted his 14th on a header off a free kick.

But less than 10 minutes later, Gulbranson was fouled just atop the penalty area and drove his ensuing free kick off the Hilltoppers' wall and past a wrong-leaning Eginton.

Marshall beat Chisago Lakes 3-0 during the regular season, but Gulbranson had a theory on why the outcome was radically different.

"When we play on our turf, our game completely changes," he said. "They had a grass field at home, it was wet and absolutely terrible conditions. But when we play them on a (turf) field, we got them every time."

Marshall had a chance to close the gap in the final seconds as the referee awarded a penalty kick for a tackle in the box.

But junior goalie Reece Lawlor stopped Royce Pichetti's first shot with his hands and then, after being whistled for leaving the goal line too early, stopped Pichetti again with his feet.

"The first one I dove the right way and on the second one they usually switch it up to the other side," Lawlor explained. "But he went right down the middle, so I stuck my leg out for a kick save and I was glad to get something on it."

The Hilltoppers, who celebrated two nights earlier when K.C. Snyder's penalty kick in the ninth round of a shootout gave them a 1-0 win over top-seeded Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, have plenty of young talent returning next season.

"I think we're ahead of schedule," Sengbush said. "We graduate some key components, but we have other kids coming back and I think we'll be just fine. I'm looking forward to next year."

Duluth Marshall 0-1-1
Chisago Lakes 2-1-3
First half - 1. CL, Ryan Mower (Nils Gulbranson), 8th; 2. CL, Mower (Jacob Lowery), 17th.
Second half - 3. DM, Ben Wallerstein, 51st; 4. CL, Gulbranson, 60th.
Goalies - Charles Eginton, DM; Reece Lawlor, CL.

1/2: Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com Duluth Marshall’s Ben Wallerstein (left) and Royce Pichetti and Chisago Lakes’ Ryan Mower chase the ball past the front of Chisago Lakes’ goal in the closing seconds of Thursday’s Section 7A championship game.

2/2: Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com Duluth Marshall’s Popo Perrault kicks the ball during Thursday’s Section 7A championship game against Chisago Lakes at Public School Stadium. Chisago Lakes won 3-1.