Falcons add another draw to record, this time against Northfield

In a rematch of last year’s Section 1AA championship game, which Northfield won by a 2-0 margin, Faribault and the host Raiders battled to a 0-0 draw in Big 9 Conference action on Thursday, Oct. 3 on the pitch at Memorial Field.

The decision moved Faribault’s record to 4-3-8, 3-3-4 Big 9, while the Raiders finished their Big 9 Conference season with a 3-4-3 record (5-5-4 overall). Northfield will wrap up its regular season schedule on Saturday, Oct. 5 with a 1 p.m. home game against Richfield and Faribault will finish its 2024 Big 9 schedule with a game at Rochester Century on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 11 a.m.

The game between the two Cannon River valley rivals proved to be a defensive showdown as Northfield goalkeeper Theo Menk and Faribault keeper Omar Ali both were credited with shutouts in the contest.

In the match’s early going, Northfield’s offense set the pace but Faribault’s defensive group led on the backline by Rashid Ibrahim, Lugman Madey and Leighton Anderson helped Ali maintain the shutout.

The Raiders also turned in a strong defensive effort thanks to the work of Menk along with back line play by Kian Morsching, Rafael Bustos Ramirez and Marcos Gallardo. Faribault managed its first shot in the game with 20:00 left in the first half but the stats were close at the intermission as Northfield led in shots 4-3 and both teams had four corner kicks apiece.

The trend continued throughout the second half with Menk and Ali making key saves to preserve the 0-0 deadlock. At the end of the game, Faribault owned a 12-10 lead in shots with Menk charting seven saves and Ali credited with three. The Raiders owned a 7-6 lead in corner kicks during the game.

After both teams complete their regular season schedules on Saturday, Oct. 5, the Falcons and Raiders will begin Section 1AA play on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Section 1AA tournament play will continue through Tuesday, Oct. 15. Opponents and game sites will be determined by the MSHSL seedings that will be set after the final regular season games this weekend.