Boys soccer: Mayo advances past Farmington, 3-0

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The Farmington boys soccer team was held scoreless for the fourth straight game in the opening round of the Section 1AA tournament last Thursday in Rochester.

The fourth-seeded Mayo Spartans shut out the fifth-seeded Tigers for the second time in a month, this time a 3-0 decision that advanced them to a second-round game with top-seeded Northfield, which they lost 4-1 on Saturday.

The Tigers had their chances to score, but never came through with a response after the Spartans lit up the scoreboard in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

“To say we had opportunities is an understatement,” Farmington coach Julian Buss said. “(We had) six quality shots on goal, six corner kick opportunities, multiple direct kicks and multiple fast break opportunities in transition.”

The Tigers spent the week before the game implementing new personnel groupings and formations to jumpstart the offense. The changes helped the team come out strong, according to Buss.

“The first 30 minutes were the most intense. We came out fighting. There was a lot of very good hustle and we executed the plan we had worked on in practice,” he said. “The game went back and forth. We had chances, Mayo had chances. It was very exciting soccer.”

The Spartans (13-4) scored on a breakaway five-plus minutes into the second half, and then knocked in a loose ball after a corner kick less than three minutes later to make it 3-0.

Keeper Sam Peterson finished with 13 saves. He was one of the team’s 10 seniors along with Isaac Toenjes, Leslie Adjei, Urive Omana, Michael Torgerson, Tyler Petter-McCauley, Eric Revis, Jake Bauman, Mikkel Peterson and Kaid Nokes. The group helped the Tigers finish third in the Missota Conference for the second straight year, finish at .500 or better overall for the second straight year, upset No. 1 seed Northfield on the road and finish with their best section record ever at 4-2-1.

“The boys did everything the coaches asked them to. Every player knew their role and how they fit into the system. On the field the boys communicated, worked their tails off and did their absolute best,” Buss said. “We went out with a battle and forced Mayo to earn the victory.… I feel privileged to have been able to work with such a talented and motivated group.”

Tags: sports