Posted: 8/9/06
A season to be remembered
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North Branch striker Gregor Falk, bottom left, gets the ball grabbed over his head by a taller Golden Valley goalie in the state championship game Aug. 3. The Vikings lost 4-3. |
By Steve Morris
The tension could have been cut with a knife. Family and friends watched from the sidelines, sitting on the edge of their lawn chairs, ready to explode from their seats at any moment. They were cheering on the Vikings who were fighting a seesaw state championship game Aug. 3 at the National Sports Center in Blaine.
With a picturesque blue sky overhead and 70 degree weather, the North Branch Vikings lost the Under 13 championship bout 4-3 against Golden Valley.
In the state championship game, North Branch's Nick Miller led the offensive charge with two goals.
It didn't take long for the young Vikings to get on the scoreboard. Seconds into the game Miller scored off a pass from Trent Holmes -- the sidelines erupted with joy. However, it was a short-lived lead. Golden Valley countered with a goal to tie the game.
Tony Ceroll scored the second goal of the game for the Vikings. At the end of the 35-minute half, North Branch was down 3-2.
A majority of the game was tied -- but you couldn't tell from watching on the sidelines. North Branch was aggressive on the offensive end, kicking many shots on goal and keeping the Golden Valley goalie frustrated and on his toes. In fact, North Branch razzed the Golden Valley goalie enough that he begun shouting at his team to play better.
Peter Grand, the North Branch traveling soccer coaching director estimated that North Branch had control of the ball 60 percent of the game.
"North Branch created lots of chances to score," he said. "I think they were surprised North Branch was fighting so hard."
But many of those chances were off by a sliver; one shot hit the post and one player overshot on an open net. Team coach Jay Falk said some of the missed shots were "dumb luck."
"I think we certainly had an opportunity to win; the outcome could have gone either way," Jay Falk said. "I think it was the best game we played all year."
The second half started off the same as the opening play, with Miller scoring his second goal of the night. However, the Vikings were held scoreless by Golden Valley defense the rest of the night. Golden Valley continued fighting and ended up scoring two more goals. The Vikings couldn't find the net in the final minutes and lost by one goal.
One of the team's coaches, Norm Falk, gave accolades to the Golden Valley team for playing a good, clean championship game. Norm Falk said Golden Valley dominated their conference in the regular season.
"Golden Valley has a fabulous team, they deserve to be champions," Norm Falk said. "In my mind we're champions too."
Because of North Branch's successful season, they will be moved ahead a skill division, to Classic II.
North Branch finished the season with a record of 14-2-3.
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