Same names, different round, same result - for the second straight season, the Lily Obrigewitch-Aly Dollinger scoring combination has thwarted Fargo North.
Dollinger and Obrigewitch each scored a goal Friday as Bismarck Century defeated the Spartans 2-0 at Cushman Field in the semifinals of the North Dakota girls high school soccer tournament.
That’s a familiar combo for North. A year ago, Obrigewitch-to-Dollinger accounted for the lone score as Century beat North 1-0 in the state quarterfinals en route to the Patriots’ state title.
“That is ironic,” Obrigewitch said. “Aly and I play well together. The whole season, it’s been like that.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Both goals were off corner kicks.
At the 29:36 mark of the first half, Obrigewitch inbounded from the left corner. Dollinger finished with a header for a 1-0 lead. “It was a corner kick last year, too,” Century coach Nate Ulness said of the 2013 quarterfinal game-winner. “They seem to have a knack working with each other.”
Then, at 52:03, Obrigewitch got credit for the goal when her corner kick from the right side was knocked into the goal on a header by a North player.
“I don’t think I’ve had one (corner kick) this year that they counted as a goal for me,” said Obrigewitch, who has two goals and three assists in two state tournaments games. “I’m excited.”
Scoring chances were few for both teams.
“They capitalized on their set pieces. That was the difference,” North coach Michelle Crary said. “We didn’t get the chances at the net we needed.”
North goalie Jessica Goroski had two saves. Amanda Leintz had four for the Patriots. Those included a leaping stop in which she swatted the ball away in the first half and a diving save in the second.
“She had saves that kept us in it,” Ulness said.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We had a great defensive performance. North is solid defensively. The corner kicks were ones we had to capitalize on. And that’s what happened.”
The defending state champion Patriots, who extended their unbeaten streak to 25 games, improved to 15-0-1. North dropped to 12-4-2.
Fargo Davies 2, Fargo Shanley 1: Fargo Davies defeated Fargo Shanley-Oak Grove in a shootout during the semifinal round of the state tournament late Friday night.
Davies won the shootout 4-3.
The Eagles (13-3-1) advance to play Bismarck Century in the championship match at 3 p.m. today.
The Patriots are defending state champions.
Shanley-Oak Grove Davies (14-3-2) plays Fargo North in the third-place match at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The match was tied 1-1 after regulation and two golden-goal overtime periods.
