SPRING LAKE PARK — It was a familiar formula for the Mankato East girls soccer team.
Come out strong, get a lead and let a smothering defense take care of the rest.
“We came here on a mission to win and I don’t think they were going to let anything stand in their way,” East coach Lizzy Vetter said. “Whether it be the weather, the turf, the team that we were playing … they wanted to execute everything today.”
The Cougars extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 3-1 victory over St. Cloud Tech in the Class AA quarterfinals Thursday on a rainy night at Spring Lake Park High School.
It didn’t take long for the Cougars to generate chances, with almost the entire first half being played in St. Cloud Tech’s half of the field. After an East strike from 20 yards out was saved, Jillian Borgmeier fired the rebound off the crossbar seven minutes into the game.
Taylor Schilling got the Cougars on the scoreboard in the 16th minute after receiving a long pass and breaking free on a rush. She calmly booted home a high shot.
Getting the first goal carried extra importance as the rain picked up during the game.
“It helped us defensively not being as stressed out when they got the ball,” East’s Hayden Henning said of playing with the lead.
Schilling scored her second of the game in the 52nd minute, firing a left-footed strike in from the box. She received a pass with her back to the goal, before turning and shooting in one motion. Schilling leads the Cougars with 27 goals this season, including 10 in four postseason games.
“I think what makes her good is that she can kind of deal with anything a defensive team throws at her,” Vetter said. “Whether she’s man-marked or maybe they double-mark her, whatever it is, she always finds a way to get out of that. And if it’s not for herself, it’s for her teammates.”
Added Henning: “She’s carried us through and brought us all up.”
The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the 62nd minute, but East answered off the ensuing kickoff just seconds later, with Borgmeier scoring on a low strike off the rush to make it 3-1.
The East defense was stout down the stretch to secure the win and has only surrendered six goals during the 11-game winning streak.
The Cougars (16-2-2) will play in the Class AA semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“I’m very excited, I love playing there,” said Henning, who played in the 2022 Class AA semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. “It’s a good atmosphere, a lot of people.”
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