Centennial girls soccer defeats Andover, reaches section 7AAA final

The Cougars won in a penalty shootout to take down the Huskies

Anthony Varriano | Oct 14, 2022

The Centennial Cougars defeated the Andover Huskies in a penalty shootout in the Class 3A, Section 7 girls soccer semifinal Thursday night at Andover High School.

The two teams met earlier in the season, and Andover (12-4-1, 9-1-1) had won their only meeting this season, 1-0.

It would be another low-scoring affair, as offenses struggled to get started in the freezing weather. The Huskies did get behind the Cougar (13-2-0, 9-2-0) defense and put one in the net that was deemed an offside play five minutes into the game, and Centennial had a corner kick that was well-placed in the box but was well-defended by Andover in the 10th minute.

It wasn’t until a free kick in the 15th minute by Centennial sophomore Nora Helvig connected with junior Addison Van Zee to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies countered five minutes later with some good ball movement that resulted in a shot on goalkeeper Jordan Metz, who handled it easily. That remained the score at halftime and provide a glimpse of what was to come.

It would be even longer before the offenses warmed up after halftime, as both teams struggled to find chances in the second half.

After 25 minutes of play in the second, Andover junior defender Skylyn Jorgenson ran down the sideline and made a perfect centering pass to Addison Dobratz cutting to the net. Dobratz headed it into the wide open net to tie the game with 15 minutes to play.

“They had a beautiful goal that no keeper in the state could save,” said Centennial coach Christa Carlson.

Andover head coach Tracey Greiss agreed.

“It was so beautiful, and we’ve scored some really nice goals like that all year, and I just kept telling them, ‘You guys are capable of some really pretty things,’ and it’s really fun to watch,” Greiss said.

Fifteen minutes wouldn’t be enough to decide this one, though. One overtime period wasn’t either. It remained tied after both overtime periods, so a shootout would decide who moved on and who went home.

Metz set the tone for the Cougars by stretching for a save against Jorgenson, and junior Cougar Marisa Frost buried it in the corner for the early lead in the shootout. Junior Dayna Stocke looked to be injured after attempting her shot that was saved by Metz, but Andover goalkeeper Haley Mau kept the Huskies in it with a brilliant save versus the Centennial goal scorer, Van Zee.

Senior Naasifaayee Bula put the Cougars ahead 2-0 with a well-placed drive to the right corner of the net, but junior Audrey Swenson answered with a goal of her own to make it 2-1 Cougars.

Mau then made her best save of the game, diving to deny senior Maddie Skalicky and give her Huskies one last chance to extend the shootout, but Metz guessed right against junior Elizabeth Schmidt to win it for Centennial, 2-1 (2-1).

“They just never gave up,” Griess said of her Huskies. “The seniors talked about it at halftime, saying ‘look, as long as we put everything out there, you know, give 100 percent, we can walk away with our heads up,’ and I think they did that.”

Andover should feel good about its chances next season, as Dobratz, the goal scorer, is just a freshman, Jorgenson will return as a senior and Mau will also be back in goal. Just three seniors played their last game for Andover.

Centennial will move on to face Blaine in the section final on Tuesday. The Cougars fell to the Bengals 2-0 back on Aug. 31, but they also lost to Andover earlier in the season, and that didn’t seem to rattle them.