Physical game not short in drama as girls soccer posts draw against Northfield

Thursday evening wasn’t short on emotions, as Faribault girls soccer celebrated Senior Night against neighboring rival Northfield in the Falcons’ regular season finale on a cool but comfortable night in Faribault.

As you would imagine, Northfield, which entered the game with four wins in conference play, added some extra juice to Senior Night. In turn, it was no surprise that the Falcons came out strong, answering the call against Northfield’s physical style of play en route to an eventual 0-0 draw.

Normally the lack of scoring in a game might make it a bit less entertaining, however Thursday’s night tilt against the Raiders included plenty of drama as physical play and no shortage of penalties paired well with multiple scoring chances on goal and excellent work by both keepers as both teams kept fans engaged all the way to the final seconds.

It was a solid effort in the midfield by the likes of Ariana Garcia and Maddie Kramer that helped the game stay level for the Falcons who have finished their best regular season since 2012 with three wins and three draws on the resume.

On the defensive end Kaylie Bertram made some key plays while keeper Claire Anderson made three incredible breakaway saves to keep the Falcons level. On the night Anderson recorded seven saves in the effort. One key save coming late in the second half as a Northfield player bowled into Anderson looking to score in the scramble.

For its part Faribault had some great scoring chances in the first half while the run of play favored Northfield in the second.

Like all good rivalry games there wasn’t a shortage of late drama, Northfield’s frustrations boiling over in the form of a hard check which resulted in a red card and ejection from the game. With the crowd energize Faribault leaned into that energy, ramping up their aggressive play in the final minutes of regulation but were unable to find a winner. That said, the Falcons did not concede a late goal either.

With the regular season now in the book, Faribault will await its placement in section playoffs, looking to pull off an upset or two in the process.