Despite a new starting 11, Benilde-St. Margaret's girls soccer once again reaches the Class 2A state semifinals

The Red Knights defeated the Alexandria Cardinals 5-1 to reach U.S. Bank Stadium

Jack Butler, SBLive Sports | Oct 28, 2022

MONTICELLO, Minn. — The Benilde-St. Margaret’s Red Knights girls soccer team lost 11 starters from last year’s Class 2A runner-up team. Yet, this season is still unfolding with similar results.

Last season, the Red Knights faced Alexandria in the quarterfinals and won 5-0. On Thursday night, the No. 4-seed Red Knights (14-2-2) defeated the No. 5-seed Alexandria Cardinals (16-2) 5-1 in the Class 2A state quarterfinals.

“Only six players returned, and then everyone else is new, so they have to learn what it takes to play at this level and have success, and they’ve done a great job, and now they’re just starting to come together at the end here,” Benilde-St. Margaret’s head coach Scott Helling-Christy said.

The Red Knights applied pressure for the first 25 minutes of the game. The Cardinals were pinned down, but the first significant moments in the game came not from a goal, but rather from injuries. Forward Ella Westlund left the game with an injury and did not return just minutes into the game.

So the Cardinals were already without an all-state player, but then a Red Knights forward collided with Cardinal goalkeeper Sophia Vinje. Vinje, a senior with a .932 save percentage, according to stats submitted to MNsoccerhub, did not return until the final minutes of the game.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s first goal would’ve been tough for any goalkeeper to stop. On a Red Knight corner kick, Siena Carver jumped, unmarked, and drove the ball to the top of the net for a 1-0 Benilde-St. Margaret’s lead.

"At first I thought. ‘Oh, I’m not going to make it,’” Carver said. “But then I feel the contact on my head, and I look over and the ball is in the net. I was just so happy. We practice these every day and I never get them in the net, and finally it makes it to the net.”

Seven minutes later, the Red Knights scored again when Lauren Hillins launched a shot from outside the box, it deflected off a Cardinal defender, and Cardinal goalkeeper Aubrie Johnson got hand on it, but it wasn’t strong enough and the ball bounced into the goal for a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Alexandria showed resolve after allowing two goals. The Cardinals put pressure on the Red Knights to start the second half, scoring a beautiful goal from Sophia Korynta. The Cardinals drove the ball down their ride side, squared a ball into the box. It bounced off a Red Knight defender for Korynta to curl a shot with her left foot from outside the box into the top right corner of the goal.

The Cardinals looked back, in the game, but Benilde-St. Margaret’s was ready to push forward. Sienna scored again, crushing a ball by the goalkeeper on the near post in the 63rd minute.

The Red Knights added two more goals from Grace Horejsi and Brooklyn Miller.

So the Red Knights downed the Cardinals again, but facing Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the semifinal is the Mahtomedi program that defeated them in the final last season.

The two teams played to a 1-0 Mahtomedi win earlier in the season, but the Red Knights are hoping that 11 new starters means a different result, so this season doesn’t finish like the last.

“It’s going to be another really tight match,” Helling-Christy said. “On paper they’re probably the better team, but that’s why you play the games.