Girls Soccer: Wingers take Lake City tourney title

By Joe Brown

jbrown@republican-eagle.com

LAKE CITY – There was plenty of motivation for the Red Wing girls soccer team Saturday as they took to the field for the championship game of the Lake City tournament against Winona.

From a playing standpoint, the Wingers wanted to avenge their 3-1 loss to the Winhawks at the Lake City tournament last year.

From a personal standpoint, Red Wing and head coach Dusty Beckman wanted to get a win over Winona, where Beckman was an assistant coach before coaching the Wingers. There also were some personal bragging rights for Beckman, whose younger sister, Autumn, is a starter for the Winhawks.

“(The players) wanted it probably more than I did,” Dusty said. “I think it was a combination of being so close last year, and this year, wanting to be on the winning side. The girls were saying before the game, ‘I’m giving 100 or 110 percent,’ and they did that.”

Thanks to a pair of goals by senior attacker Paige Lampe, the Wingers won the Lake City tournament title with a 2-1 victory over the Winhawks.

“Winning means a lot because last year, we came up just a little bit too short,” said Lampe, who had three of Red Wing’s four goals on Saturday, “and this year, we actually got it. It feels pretty good.”

In the first round, the Wingers held off a late charge to defeat the host Tigers 2-1.

”That was one day’s worth of work,” Beckman said of the two victories. “When these girls put their minds to something, they can do some pretty great things.”

In a back-and-forth championship match with Winona, the Wingers struck first just over five minutes into the game. Lampe had a shot rattle off the crossbar, but she was able to get the ball back and beat Winhawks goalkeeper Jordyn Conway for the 1-0 lead.

“I was trying to volley it in and it bounced back,” Lampe said of the goal. “I had momentum going and I got the rebound.”

Lampe struck again after halftime when a low shot got under Conway, putting Red Wing up 2-0 with over 34 minutes left in the match.

Winona cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 54th minute when Emily Bartz corralled the ball after a save by Wingers goalie Marissa Fitzsimmons to score on the second-chance opportunity.

From there, Red Wing’s defense prevented the Winhawks from getting another quality chance.

“I didn’t sub any defenders out in that second game,” Beckman said. “Those girls really wanted that win.”

The Wingers’ win over Winona followed a similar script to their 2-1 victory over Lake City in the first round as Red Wing scored the game’s first two goals.

In the 10th minute against the Tigers, Lampe broke free for a one-on-one scoring opportunity, beating Lake City goalie Lindy Holmstadt for the 1-0 lead.

“Paige was huge today,” Beckman said. “She unleashed, simple as that. It was nice to see that and get her scoring again.”

Twelve minutes into the second half, the Wingers got into the scoring act when a shot by Maddy Hardyman went off of Holmstadt, only to go in front of Red Wing’s Caitie Turcotte, who buried the ball in the back of the net for the 2-0 advantage.

The Tigers, who lost 5-0 to Stewartville in their second game, got their lone goal of the day on a free kick in the 60th minute by Grayce Adler.

The pair of victories Saturday snapped a four-game losing streak for the Wingers.

“It feels good to actually get some wins, and it’ll be good to keep us motivated,” Lampe said. “It’ll keep us going for our next game.”

Tags: girls soccer, red wing, lake city, sports, prep