A lot of offense had to be replaced from the 2009 East Grand Forks Senior High girls soccer team.
All-stater and leading scorer Francie Piche (31 goals, 11 assists) graduated. Leah Jensen (19-10) had to miss this season due to an injury. And Grace Hollingsworth (7-8) was a foreign exchange student. That left two of the top five scorers back from a year ago in Jaclyn Scanlan (16-24) and Dani Pickard (8-12).
"We knew we were losing a lot of points," Scanlan said. "But we were pretty confident. We had girls working out over the summer. We saw what they could do. I haven't been surprised by what we've done."
The Green Wave have now proven themselves. Senior High is 19-1-1 and headed for the Minnesota Class A state tournament for the second straight season. After beating Detroit Lakes 4-2 in the 8A championship, the Wave will meet The Blake School at 5:30 p.m. today in the state tournament quarterfinals in St. Cloud.
Senior High didn't replace the finishing skills of Piche with one player. Rather, it's been an offense geared more to balance.
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Scanlan leads the way with 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists). Joining her as double-figure point producers are Pickard (15-12), Emily Swenson (14-5), Madi Galstad (7-6), CoCo Piche (6-6) and Theresa Adamson (7-5).
"We were confident in those girls," Senior High coach Jessica Krog said. "We saw their potential. They just weren't proven on the varsity. When they got a chance, they gave us good minutes last year."
The result has been only a slight drop in production: Senior High averages 4.7 goals per game compared to 5.4 last season.
Krog said the key to the offense is Scanlan, who was named Class A Ms. Soccer, which is awarded to the outstanding senior player in the state. She's a three-time all-state pick who has a Senior High-record 168 career points.
"Jaclyn does more than just what the stats show," Krog said. "We run our offense through Jaclyn. She gains possessions and sets up our offense. Jaclyn controls things. She's an incredible passer and she sees things developing. She has an instinct.
"But teams can't key on one player. If they double-team Jaclyn, that leaves somebody else open. And we have other scorers."
Swenson has been a big addition to the offense. She was a defender last season. "She's quick and gritty, sort of the way Francie played," Krog said. "We saw her potential. We moved her to a forward and she took off with it."
Swenson, Pickard and Adamson make up one line. The line of Jenna Perreault (6-2) and sisters Madi and Marina Galstad (4-5) also has been productive.
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In the case of the newcomers to the regular rotation, Krog said, they showed potential in limited varsity minutes last season. And they held up in practices on a daily basis against a defense that includes veteran defenders Rebecca Aker and Trisha Lewis and goaltender Chelsey Grassel. Aker and Grassel joined Scanlan on this season's all-state team.
"These girls went against one of the best defenses in the state every day in practice last year," Krog said. "We saw what they could do. We didn't look at this year as rebuilding. It was reloading. We put it in the girls' hands to keep up the tradition."
DeVillers reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1128; (800) 477-6572, ext. 128; or send e-mail to gdevillers@gfherald.com .
EGF Senior High at a glance
Coach: Jessica Krog
Record: 19-1-1, Section 8A champion.
Minnesota Class A state quarterfinal: Senior High will meet The Blake School at 5:30 p.m. today in a state tournament quarterfinal game in St. Cloud.
Senior High top scorers: Sr. Jaclyn Scanlan (18 goals, 13 assists), jr. Dani Pickard (15-12), jr. Emily Swenson (14-5), fr. Madi Galstad (7-6), fr. CoCo Piche (6-6), sr. Theresa Adamson (7-5), jr. Marina Galstad (4-5), sr. Brooke Greenwood (6-2), jr. Jenna Perreault (6-2), jr. Brandi Wickersham (4-3), jr. Anna Hulteng (3-3).
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Senior High top defenders: Sr. Trisha Lewis, sr. Rebecca Aker, sr. goalie Chelsey Grassel (.891 save percentage, 0.6 goals-against average, 11 shutouts).
About Blake: Blake School (17-1-2) is led by freshman Lydia Sutton, a first-team, all-state selection. Sutton is the daughter of former Fisher, Minn., two-sport star Linda Christianson.
