MAPLE GROVE — Ally Weldon scored the lone goal for the No. 6 seeded Brainerd Warriors in their 2-1 lost to the No. 2 Maple Grove Crimson in Section 8-2A semifinals Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Weldon’s goal came at the 17:41 mark of the first half and gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead. Kayla Bush tallied the assist.
“Early in the game I definitely thought the girls executed what we looked at on film,” Warrior head coach Grant Gmeinder said. “We knew Maple Grove would be a well coached team and possess the ball well. We knew our chances would come from defense and that’s how we got that first goal.”
The Crimson recorded both of their goals in the first half to take the 2-1 lead that would hold through the second half.
“Give credit to Maple Grove, certainly they did a nice job of making it tough,” Gmeinder said. “We struggled to create chances to shoot on net. We certainly had plenty of possession on their end of the field, but struggled to get shots off and really test their goalie.”
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Brainerd got one shot on goal while Maple Grove tallied nine. Warriors goalkeeper Gracelyn Dickinson recorded seven saves.
“Thought she gave us a good chance to win again,” Gmeinder said of Dickinson.
The Warriors finish the season 9-2-1. Gmeinder is proud of how his team finished the season with all the uncertainty that surrounded the season to begin with.
“It’s the story of our season,” he said. “I’ve never been around a more resilient team with all the stuff they’ve been through. We dealt with injuries throughout the year and were shut down for two weeks. We didn’t know we would have a season at all and to get as far as we did is incredible.”
Brainerd 1 0 — 1
Maple Grove 2 0 — 2
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