MOORHEAD — Undefeated on the season, ranked No. 9 in the Quality Results Formula and coming off a 2-1 victory over the Brainerd Warriors five days ago, the Moorhead Spuds saw their season end in the Section 8-2A quarterfinals Wednesday, Oct. 14.
That’s because the No. 6 seeded Brainerd Warriors pulled off a 1-0 upset over No. 3 Moorhead to advance to the section semifinals.
Brainerd redeemed itself after suffering its only loss of the season Saturday after a two-week break from competition because of COVID-19.
The deciding goal came from Taylor Larson who was assisted by Cally Robertson on a corner kick. The goal came at the 33rd minute and Brainerd then focused on stopping Moorhead’s all-time single season scorer Olivia Watson, who tallied 43 goals in just 10 games this season.
It was the first time Moorhead was held without at least two goals in a game all season.
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The Warriors will now play No. 2 seeded Maple Grove, who topped No. 7 Buffalo 4-0, to improve to 7-4-1. That game will be Tuesday, Oct. 20, in Maple Grove. A time has not been set yet.
“I’m so proud of the girls after all they have been through this year and the job they did to get ready and prepare for a playoff game in less than ideal circumstances,” Warrior head coach Grant Gmeinder said. “They were a good team. They were kind of a top-heavy team with a couple of really good players. We kind of knew if we could shut them down we would have a really good chance to win and that’s what we did today.”
Brainerd 1 0 -- 1
Moorhead 0 0 -- 0
First half: Brd-Taylor Larson (Cally Robertson) 33:00
Overall: Brd 9-1-1, M 10-1. Next: Brainerd vs. Maple Grove in Section 8-2A semifinals Tuesday, Oct. 20.
