Given the breadth of talent it had returning, the Moorhead boys soccer team viewed the 2004 and 2005 campaigns as one, even before the former ended in a heap of wasted offensive chances with a mark of 7-10-3.
And in the first half of Thursday's Section 8 final, the game they had waited two years to play, the Spuds were dominant. What's more, they finished; not all the time - it took nearly 27 minutes to officially take the lead - but the job at hand with a 2-1 victory against Alexandria at Moorview Soccer Complex to earn the second state tournament berth in school history.
Moorhead will play a yet-to-be-determined opponent at a yet-to-be-determined site next Thursday in the Minnesota Class 2A quarterfinals.
"It felt good, coming out with the first two goals right away," Moorhead senior attacker Cole Nirschl said. "Like coach said, you have to come out strong right away to knock them back on their heels, and that's exactly what we did."
For as happy as Spuds coach Tim Costello felt for his current players, his former players who were on hand to lend support and even for himself, he was especially pleased that Nirschl set up the first score and tallied the winning goal with 7:23 left in the first half.
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Nirschl epitomized last year's hard-working, harder-luck bunch. In 2004, he took 85 shots, half of those on frame, scoring but four goals.
With two points on Thursday, he pushed his season total to a team-high 26 for a squad that has more than doubled last season's goal total and gained both the No. 1 seed and a home section final for the first time.
But don't chalk the Spuds' first-half dominance up to the home-field advantage. Moorhead's possession-heavy play, rather than a relatively calm air at notoriously windy Moorview, kept the action primarily in one half of the field as if it were being played inside a pinball machine.
And yet the Spuds (15-3-3) had nothing to show for it until 13:09 left in the half when Nick Peterson headed home a crossing pass from Nirschl. Less than six minutes later, the lead was 2-0 on a rip from the right by Nirschl.
The Cardinals (12-3-5), who won the Central Lakes Conference this season and advanced to the Class 1A state tournament last year, halved the difference with 3:46 left in the first half on what Costello called his team's "one mistake." Then again, the Spuds have given up a single goal in 13 of 21 games this fall.
"Not to take anything away from Moorhead, they did a really nice job today, we just didn't seem to click as well," said Alexandria coach Wes Thompson, whose team tied the Spuds 1-1 on Oct. 6. "Maybe the double overtime (win at Elk River in the semis) and getting back at 1 in the morning the other day took it out of us today."
FIRST HALF: 1, M, N. Peterson (Nirschl) 66:51. 2, M, Nirschl (Fuxa) 32:37. 3, A, Towley (Brickweg) 36:14.
SECOND HALF: No scoring.
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SAVES: A, Beilke 11. M, Haskins 9.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548
