John’s Journal: A Rookie Soccer Coach With Veteran Experience

It’s rare for a first-year head coach to lead a team all the way to a state championship game. Grant Steine, however, is not the typical rookie head coach.

The Orono Spartans boys soccer team, led by Steine, will play for the Class 2A title on Friday after they snuck past DeLaSalle 4-3 in double overtime in Wednesday’s state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. Orono will face Hill-Murray, which defeated St. Cloud Tech 6-1 in the other semifinal.

Steine is a longtime club soccer coach who has known many of the varsity players since they were 12 years old. He joined the high school coaching staff two years ago, when the Spartans won their second state title (the first was in 2015).

“I know these boys and know what they're capable of,” he said.

The Spartans (17-1-2) lost to Breck 1-0 and played to ties with New Prague (2-2) and Waconia (0-0) during the regular season. They come into the state championship game on a nine-game winning streak.

No Orono players were listed among this year’s all-state teams, which Steine admitted was due to a technical error. He electronically submitted his all-state nominations, including putting senior Lisle Cherwien (who scored the winning goal Wednesday) up for Mr. Soccer. He was crushed when he realized the note had not gone through.

“I really don't want to relive it because it was one of the worst days of my life,” he said. “These guys have showed leadership throughout it and supported me, as well. So I’m very appreciative of that.”

The Highest Highs, The Lowest Lows

One of the most emotional sights on a soccer field comes when a sudden-strike goal is scored in overtime to end a game. One team is leaping and sprinting and grinning and hugging while players on the other team drop to the turf in a heartbreaking scene.

Heartbreaking was a word repeated several times by Park boys soccer coach Andrew Bourgoine after the Wolfpack lost to Maple Grove 2-1 in overtime in the Class 3A state semifinals. Park led 1-0 before the Crimson tied the score late in regulation.

“Soccer is sometimes a cruel game,” Bourgoine said. “That's why I love coaching it, though. If we would have won that game, it would have been the best moment probably in my career. But soccer is cruel and there's heartbreak in it and that was heartbreak. It was heartbreaking for me to see the kids after what happened.

“We were 2 minutes and 21 seconds away from a state title game. That's how close we came to pretty much beating three ranked teams in a row. … It's the most proud I've ever been, even after a loss. I'm the most proud as a coach in this moment, today, right now. I just love all these kids to death.”

Roles For Every Senior

At Hill-Murray, there is room for every senior who has been in the boys soccer program throughout their high school career. Coach Jeff Zupfer talked about that after the Pioneers defeated St. Cloud Tech, using the word “family.”

“They're part of the family and they've committed to us for four years and at the end of it, we'll find a way to commit back to them,” he said.

Some players become team managers as seniors and some take on the responsibilities of a statistician or other off-the-field role. No matter what, their commitment will be rewarded.

Zupfer also said the Pioneers, a veteran group with 16 seniors who finished as state runner-up last year, didn’t look too far into the future this season. Instead, they focused on the present moment.

“That was the challenge that we looked at as a coaching staff,” he said. “We worked on just being present in the moment and not trying to think about the prize on Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium. You know, whether it was in August just trying to stay present in the moment in a training session, or any game that we played along the way, it was a challenge. But it also was helpful to have a really good group of seniors. That leadership, I think, really kept us grounded and just kept us in the present.”

STATE SOCCER SEMIFINALS

AT U.S. BANK STADIUM

GIRLS

Class A

St Paul Academy 4, Providence Academy 3

St. Charles 3, Southwest Christian 2

Class AA

Holy Angels 4, Totino-Grace 1

Benilde-St. Margaret’s 7, Winona 1

Class AAA

Edina 3, Andover 0

Wayzata 5, Maple Grove 1

BOYS

Class A

Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa 1, St. Cloud Cathedral 0 (OT)

St. Paul Academy 2, Holy Family 1 (OT)

Class AA

Orono 4, DeLaSalle 3 (OT)

Hill-Murray 6, St. Cloud Tech 1

Class AAA

Wayzata 3, Woodbury 2 (OT)

Maple Grove 2, Park 1 (OT)

SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

FRIDAY AT U.S. BANK STADIUM

8 a.m. 3A boys: Wayzata vs. Maple Grove

10:15 a.m. 3A girls: Edina vs. Wayzata

12:30 p.m. 2A boys: Orono vs. Hill-Murray

2:45 p.m. 2A girls: Holy Angels vs. Benilde-St. Margaret’s

5 p.m. 1A boys: Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa vs. St. Paul Academy

7:15 p.m. 1A girls: St. Paul Academy vs. St. Charles

--MSHSL senior content creator John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected]