'Jacks fall short in State quarterfinals

A slow first-half start led to a second-half surge for the Lumberjacks that was too little, too late on Wednesday. Ultimately, the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys soccer team fell 4-2 to Blake School during a Class AA quarterfinal game in White Bear Lake.

"It took us a while to obviously settle in and once we started beating them to the ball and got into the rhythm, we were able to flip that field but it just took too long," Sundquist said. "Man, if we had started that way, I think it would have been different."

The unseeded Lumberjacks team entered its fourth consecutive state tournament with a record of 15-3. CEC's side have not lost or drawn a game in conference play for over three straight seasons. Their conference record during that span totals 34-0.

But sometimes teams

struggle.

It's how his team responded to the challenges that makes him proud, Sundquist said.

A struggle to possess the ball plagued CEC in the opening portion of the game. A high-pressed, well-structured Blake offense kept near constant pressure. The Bears found their first goal early, off a rebounded shot from CEC goalkeeper Preston Strang, with the Bears Joseph Melloh scoring in the 15th minute.

CEC continued to falter on offense in the first half, allowing lots of Blake chances and an eventual second Bears goal - a distance strike from Charlie Silvestri which doubled their lead in the 37th minute.

Halftime saw CEC trailing 2-0.

The second half again began in Blake's favor: CEC keeper Strang was caught off guard by a direct freekick in the 42nd minute. Augustin Catoggio scored the third Bears goal.

Against the run of play, the 'Jacks clawed back a goal via Noah Hansen from a bounce off a Santi Anich freekick in the 51st minute. The CEC midfield started to gain more ground after the goal, but was halted by another Catoggio goal for Blake in the 72th minute.

Blake 4-CEC 1.

An unwavering Cloquet attack finished with a Hudson Snesrud goal in the 75th minute to bring the score to Blake 4-CEC 2.

Sundquist was happy with how hard his team battled.

"We get down 3-0, and that forward group of Hudson (Snesrud), Collin (Young), Noah (Hansen) and Rizal (Agaton-Howes) that kept going forward and got two points back, they really showed results," he said. "I'm really proud. Getting three down ... we could have just turned tail and kind of packed it in, but they kept battling."

Despite a more offensively-sound second half, injuries and No. 2 seed Blake were too much for the 'Jacks. Final score: Blake 4-CEC 2.

Throughout the game, three CEC players went down with injuries. Sundquist highlighted one player who stepped up to help.

"I just want to give credit to Aiden Korby, playing defense all year and then moving into that starting midfield for Ben Schramm is not exactly the best situation for him ... He got moved back to defense and really played his heart out for us."

Mr. Soccer finalist and captain Schramm was not playing Wednesday due to an ACL tear he sustained during the section semifinal against Denfeld.

"If you can have a Mr. Soccer finalist back, you would take him every time. Ben's a huge difference maker," Sundquist said.

Asked about being a Mr. Soccer finalist, Schramm admitted the recognition is cool.

"I'm proud of the season I had and [the way we] set up the postseason, although it ended unfortunately for me," he said.

Schramm shared his thoughts on the loss after the game.

"I think some things didn't go our way," he said. "They're a good team and we'd known that, but it's just gonna be a hard game against a quality team. We were capable of beating them."