Making their eighth State appearance in nine years, the Benilde-St. Margaret’s girls’ soccer team advanced to the Class A semifinals with a 1-0 win over unseeded Duluth Denfeld. Junior midfielder, Emma Van der Heide scored the lone goal of the game allowing the Red Knights to collect the victory.

The game began with the Red Knight’s taking control right away and playing quickly around their opponent. “I was so excited to play the game and I knew it could be our last playing as a team, so we came out really hard,” Van der Heide said.

Halfway through the first half, midfielder Jordan Maddaus made a stunning behind-the-back flick and passed the ball to Vander Heide who placed the ball in the far left corner of the net. At the end of the first half, the Red Knight’s were up 1-0 and remained that way till the end. The Denfeld defense packed many of their girls in the back making it difficult for the Red Knight’s to keep the ball in the offensive third. “The other team came out really strong to hold us off and I thought we did a good job of holding possession for the rest of the game,” Van der Heide said.

With the win, the Red Knights advance to the State semifinals where they will face unseeded Mankato West on Monday at 10 am.