For the first time in five years Fargo South's final game at the state girls' soccer tournament didn't have championship implications. But despite the peculiar setting the Bruins still flourished.
The two-time defending state champions used two first-half goals to defeat East Region rival Fargo Shanley 2-1 Saturday at the Rotary Soccer Field in Jamestown and claim third place at this year's state soccer tournament.
"It was a fun game," said South coach Michael Breker. "It was played well by both sides."
The Bruins (12-3-4) had to bounce back from their first state-tournament loss since 2007, when they lost to Bismarck Century in the championship.
"Third place makes us happy," Breker said. "It's better to end on a win. We would have liked to be in the championship, but it wasn't our year."
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South, after losing to West Fargo 1-0 in the semifinals, broke a 118-minute scoreless span with a goal in the 26th minute off the foot of junior Nicole Lindemoen.
South's Laura Olson fed Jillian Stallman on the left side, who then hit Lindemoen on a cross for the goal.
Shanley goalkeeper Sammi Post nearly got a hand on the pass from Stallman to Lindemoen but the ball was just out of reach, giving Lindemoen an open net to shoot at.
"It helps a lot," said Olson of taking the early lead. "We're not freaking out, we're not all tense. We could just relax and try to get more goals."
Olson found the back of the net less than 10 minutes later to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead going into the break.
"We struggled with our play a little bit (Friday), so coming out early and scoring two goals reminded us of what we're capable of doing," Breker said. "It's possible for us to do this."
Haley Koehn fired a pass from the right side in front to Olson, who redirected the ball past Post for the score.
"It was really exciting," said Olson. "I was surprised."
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The late first-half goal proved to be the game winner as the Deacons bounced back in the second half with a score off a penalty kick in the 46th minute.
Shanley senior Taylor Hager rifled a shot to the upper-left corner to pull the Deacons to within one.
"One thing we've been working on the whole year is that when we're down we would have to fight back and pick ourselves up," said Shanley coach Kevin Roos. "That was good to see."
The Deacons (10-9-1) had some chances down the stretch but South keeper Alley Fischer held her ground and didn't let another shot go by.
The junior netminder finished with nine saves, while Post had five.
"I thought this was probably the best game we played all weekend," said Roos. "I think we played great. We were really tired (Friday) but we came out strong today and fought through it."
Fargo North 3, St. Mary's 1
Fargo North did all it could after suffering an opening round loss.
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The Spartans, following their first-round loss to Minot on Thursday, could attain fifth place if they kept winning, so that's exactly what they did.
North capped off its state girls' soccer tournament with a 3-1 victory over St. Mary's Saturday to claim fifth and finish the tournament with back-to-back wins.
"I'm really proud of them," said North coach Cordell Sinding. "When you get the letdown of that first loss, that takes you out of the winner's bracket right away, and it's hard to recover from that. I'm really proud of the way they stepped up."
The Spartans, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed from the East, matched last year's finish at the state tournament and have improved their streak to six straight years of finishing fifth or higher.
"It seemed like they were loose and having fun," Sinding said. "That's what it's all about."
North senior Jamie St. Germaine went out with a bang, scoring two goals in her final game donning a Spartan jersey.
"It was really nice," she said. "We were pretty upset after not getting to the championship, but it's always nice to finish with a win."
St. Germaine scored the game's first goal on a penalty kick in the 30th minute to put the Spartans up 1-0.
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Teammate Noel Scherer also scored on a penalty kick in the 38th minute to give North a 2-0 spread at the end of the first half.
"It seems we play better with a lead," Sindling said. "Once we get an early lead we just settle down, play our game and the other team seems to rush a little bit."
The Spartans (13-3-2) tacked on another goal in the 67th minute when St. Germaine rifled an uncontested shot over St. Mary's goalkeeper Nicole Moen's outstretched arms to put North up 3-0.
St. Mary's (6-7-4) battled back to within two after Lily Obregewitch scored in the 69th minute but that would be the closest the Saints would get.
"St. Mary's played well and played hard in the second half," said Sindling. "We just defended pretty well."
State Girls' Soccer Tournament
At Rotary Soccer Field
Third-place game
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Fargo South 2, Fargo Shanley 1
Shanley 0 1 -- 1
South 2 0 -- 2
Scoring
First half
1, FS, Nicole Lindemoen (Jillian Stallman), 14:46; 2, FS, Laura Olson (Haley Koehn), 5:25.
Second half
3, SHA, Taylor Hager (penalty kick), 34:57.
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Goalkeeper saves: Fargo Shanley, Sammi Post 5; Fargo South, Alley Fischer 9.
Records: Fargo Shanley 10-9-1; Fargo South 12-3-4.
Fifth-place game
Fargo North 3, Bismarck-St. Mary's 1
St. Mary's 0 1 -- 1
North 2 1 -- 3
Scoring
First half
1, FN, Jamie St. Germaine (penalty kick), 10:14; 2, FN, Noel Scherer (penalty kick), 1:38.
Second half
3, FN, St. Germaine (unassisted), 23:57; 4, BSM, Lily Obregewitch (Brooke Christensen), 21:30.
Goalkeeper saves: St. Mary's, Nicole Moen 7, Alisson Malm 0; North, Angie Waller 4, Chelsey Sitzman 1.
Records: Bismarck-St. Mary's 6-7-4; Fargo North 13-3-2.
Sun sports writer David Griswold can be reached by phone (701) 952-8462 or by email at dgriswold@jamestownsun.com
