Trip to the Bank: Girls’ Soccer Wins Soccer Semifinal
By advancing all the way to the State Semifinals, the BSM girls’ soccer team not only earned placement in a day game taking place at U.S. Bank Stadium, they were able to get the entirety of BSM out of school early to travel to the game against Cloquet-Carlton.
On Thursday November 4th, grades 7-12 were given the opportunity to travel to the Vikings stadium to watch the girls’ soccer team compete to get to the state championship. Fan buses were offered to transport students, and everyone was encouraged to attend the game in an effort to fill out a deep student section. BSM dispatched Cloquet-Carlton 3-0 behind two goals scored by sophomore Kiya Gilliand and another added by senior Elizabeth Dietzen. Senior captain Sydney Drees described the game as a strategic victory, where everyone on the team played into the role they were asked to play leading to a successful outing. “We did exactly what we needed to do and prepared to do to win the game,” Drees said.
BSM’s student section ran several rows, nearly double in size the students in attendance for Cloquet. While this lack of fans for Cloquet may have been a result of a two-hour drive to attend the game, BSM’s outpouring of cheers and chants throughout the game helped players sustain energy. “I tried to block out the students as much as possible so I don’t lose focus, but it was motivating to hear throughout the game,” Ballinger said.
Fans in attendance described seeing their fellow classmates playing on the same stage as the Vikings. Senior Kieran Wickner was glad he spent his afternoon off of school watching his friends play in the state tournament, and felt like it was a connecting experience for all grades at BSM. “Seeing classmates play at the Vikings stadium was a unique experience; it was a great atmosphere, but the Cloquet student section was lacking as much as their performance on the field,” Wickner said.
While playing in a stadium able to hold over 60,000 is not what many of the BSM girls’ soccer team was used to, the girls didn’t lose a step during the game. “The atmosphere was like nothing I had felt before, and there were way more people watching then I’m used to,” Ballinger said.
