FARGO — The Fargo Davies girls soccer team didn’t want history to repeat itself after its unbeaten season abruptly ended in last year’s state tournament quarterfinals.
On Thursday, the Eagles made sure it didn’t happen again. Under blistering 90-degree skies, the East Region top-seed prevailed through the heat to top West Region fourth-seeded Jamestown 1-0 and advance to Friday’s North Dakota girls soccer state tournament semifinals, set for 4:30 p.m. at Davies High School.
“It’s something we talk about every year,” Davies head coach Nick Chrsitianson said. “When you get to state, there are eight teams here for a reason. They’re all fighting to start on the same playing field at 0-0-0. It’s just the first team to win three games.
“We got the first one out of the way. It wasn’t the cleanest, but we can continue to get better and progress into the semifinals.”
Davies will take on West No. 2 seed Bismarck (10-2-1) in the semifinals.
While Jamestown (6-4-2) had its chances, the Eagles (14-1-0) sustained pressure for much of the first half and the remainder of the match. Davies broke through in the 29th minute on a goal from freshman forward Quinn Skari, who fielded a centering pass from sophomore midfielder Sophie Bjerke and beat Blue Jays junior goalkeeper Olivia Sorlie to her right side to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead.
“It was a little pressing up the field, we forced a turnover and then it was just a good finish,” Christianson said.
Sorlie stopped eight Davies shots while Eagles junior goalkeeper Kaia Davidson stopped one Jamestown shot.
Davies, along with the other seven state tournament teams, will be required to deal with the hot temperatures throughout the weekend as the weather forecast calls for highs in the 90s through Monday.
Under the recommendation of Sanford Sports Medicine, the North Dakota High School Activities Association has instituted mandatory water breaks based on wet bulb temperature readings. If the wet bulb reading is 82 degrees or above, officials will mandate one water break per half. Two water breaks will be required if the reading reaches 87 or higher, and the match will be postponed with a reading of 92 or above.
“It is hot and it’s just going to be a little bit hotter the rest of the day and the rest of the weekend,” Christianson said. “It’s something that all of the teams are going to have to acclimate to a little bit.”
Jamestown will play in Friday’s consolation semifinals against East No. 3 seed West Fargo Sheyenne (9-3-3) at noon Friday
Source: Inforum
