State Soccer: Edina gets by Mounds View in 1-0 AAA Girls Semi thriller

In a battle of upstarts, Edina will move on to the Class AAA girls soccer state championship game following a 1-0 victory over Mounds View on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. Freshman midfielder Lous Ruffien scored with just more than nine minutes remaining in regulation time to lift the No. 5-seeded Hornets (16-4-1) into the big-school championship game where it will play the winner between No. 2 Rosemount and No. 3 Stillwater.

Ruffien broke the scoreless deadlock on a play in the goalie box. She gained possession by pulling the ball from a defender and then firing a quick-strike shot from close range.

To earn a spot in the semifinal, Edina defeated No. 4 Centennial in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, unseeded Mounds View (14-5-1) staged the upset of the quarterfinals by defeating top-seeded and previously undefeated Wayzata.

It is Edina’s first appearance in a soccer championship game since 2007 when it lost to Lakeville South. The Hornets also had a runner-up finish in 2000. In 1986, Edina won the single-class state championship, and in 1980, Edina West was the runner-up to Bloomington Jefferson in the first-ever girls soccer championship game.

Courtesy: Minnesota State High School League