Teams get state exposure

A tripleheader of state tournament soccer games featuring local teams was scheduled to take place Thursday in the Twin Cities area. The teams are trying to win in the first round in order to advance to the semifinals at a warm U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis next week.

CEC boys

The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys were seeded third in the Class AA tournament, meaning their first opponent, St. Cloud Tech, came from a random draw of the three unseeded teams. Tech was 11-6-2 in the regular season. The teams were scheduled to meet at 7:30 Thursday at Irondale High School.

CEC, which went 17-2, could find themselves playing in the semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1 in Minneapolis. The championship would be at U.S. Bank Stadium at 2:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4.

Cloquet girls

The Cloquet girls were unseeded in Class AA and drew No. 3 Mankato East in the first round Thursday, a 5:30 p.m. game at Irondale High School. The Cougars went 19-0 in the regular season. The Lumberjacks were 15-3-1.

The winner of that match would face No. 2 Academy of Holy Angels in a semifinal match at U.S. Bank Stadium at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2. The championship game is set for 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4.

Esko girls

The upstart Esko girls were the fifth-seed in Class A and scheduled to face No. 4 St. Anthony Village at 5:30 p.m. at the Edina Community Center.

St. Anthony went 11-3-1 on the season. Esko was 15-2-1.

The semifinal will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium. The championship will be at

5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.