Soccer State Tournament, 2022: Boys Class AA Championship
Posted: Friday, November 4, 2022 - 7:18 PM
DeLaSalle scored in the waning seconds of regulation time and then was perfect during the shootout in winning the Class AA Boys Soccer state championship with a victory over top-seeded and previously undefeated Hill-Murray
In DeLaSalle’s only other appearance in the Minnesota State High School League’s Boys Soccer State Tournament, the Islanders were the Class A runner-up to St. Cloud Apollo. Fast forward nearly a decade later and the Islanders were presented with an opportunity to take one final step. They faced a tall task, however. DeLaSalle’s 2022 soccer journey found it in the Class AA championship game with top-seeded and undefeated Hill-Murray.
The Islanders tackled the task by going to great lengths filled with late heroics.
DeLaSalle outlasted Hill-Murray to record a 3-2 victory in the Class AA championship game on Friday, Nov. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium. After 100 minutes of regulation time and overtime remained tied at 2-all, the shootout tiebreaking procedure was needed. In dramatic fashion that was the theme throughout, the Islanders (14-5-1) edged the Pioneers (21-1-0), 5-4 in the shootout. Junior defender Ryan Marcatoma supplied the winning shootout kick that was the crescendo to an historic season for the Islanders.
DeLaSalle finished the regular season on a 0-4-1 skid. They ended with six consecutive victories at the right time of season.
The Islanders looked destined for another runner-up finish before junior forward Stiven Muellner Lindor drilled a free kick into the upper left corner with 21 seconds remaining in regulation time. His heels came less than two minutes after senior forward Jeronimo Laklia took a long lead pass from junior midfielder Taylor Petrich and sliced it in for, momentarily, a 2-1 Hill-Murray lead.