Cloquet, Esko end season with a tie

The Cloquet and Esko girls soccer teams wrapped up their regular season last week by playing to a 1-1 draw in Esko. Trailing 1-0 in the second half, the Eskomos got a corner kick that Ava Korby was able to drill into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

"Ava's goal came off a corner kick and she was able to get a direct hit on it," said Esko coach Caitlin Lilly. "She's got a great knack for moving at the right time to where the ball will be. Her timing was key for the goal."

Earlier in the game the Lumberjacks had also scored off a corner kick by Sadie Senich. Senich curled her kick into the net as the ball slipped past the Eskomos untouched, giving Cloquet the lead. Cloquet-Carlton had beaten Esko 5-0 in their season opener Sept. 1, so the results of the game came as a bit of a surprise to some onlookers.

"I think Esko was better prepared defensively," said Cloquet coach Bobbie Turner. "We had some trouble getting the ball out of the middle of the field and when we had opportunities we just weren't finishing like we have been in past games."

Lilly agreed with Turner's assessment of her team being better prepared defensively.

"We have reworked our defensive system from the top down, starting with how our forwards and midfielders pressure the ball," said Lilly. "This was probably the biggest catalyst for remaining calm when we are not in possession of the ball."

Sections begin with wins

Both Cloquet and Esko opened play on Tuesday night in the Section 7A playoffs with Cloquet taking an 11-0 win over Mesabi East and the Eskomos beating Proctor 1-0.

In Esko's 1-0 win over Proctor, Mallory Sunnarborg scored the lone goal of the game giving the Eskomos the all-important victory.

"Captain Mallory Sunnarborg had an amazing header on a corner kick in the second half from Abrianna Madill," said Esko's Lilly said. "Proctor plays a physically challenging game and we were trying to adjust to their style of playing instead of playing our own."

"It took us a while to play our own game and turn our possessions into scoring opportunities, Lilly said. "It was a much slower and choppier game than I had anticipated and I expect our girls to be able to compete at a faster pace."

At Cloquet's Bromberg Field Tuesday night, Alexa Snesrud got the scoring going in the 'Jacks' victory over the Giants five minutes into the game. That was followed by back-to-back goals from Brenna Mattson to build the lead to 3-0. Katie Turner followed Mattson's goals with her own back-to-back goals at the 12- and 13-minute marks. That series of goals was followed by goals from Avery Carlson, Kate Conway, Maddie Young and Ilei Benson as Cloquet-Carlton went up 9-0 by halftime. Cloquet did not give up a shot on goal in the game.

"It's hard in a game like this to find a balance of playing hard and not running the score up too much," said Turner. "We were working on the little things like our first touch on the ball and focusing on making the best decisions with your passing and that type of thing."

The Lumberjacks added goals from Elle Carlson and Brooke Simmonds a minute apart in the second half for the final of 11-0.

"We also were able to get our reserves a ton of minutes in this game," said Turner.

Cloquet was scheduled to play at home starting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, against No. 9 seed Hermantown after this issue of the Pine Knot News went to press. The winner of Thursday's game will play in the semifinals Tuesday, Oct. 20, against the winner of Thursday's noon game between Esko and Zimmerman. The Section 7A championship game is set for Oct. 22.

The Lumberjacks girls team is currently ranked No. 10 in the state by mnsoccerhub.com and eighth by minnesota-scores.net.