Champlin Park girls soccer ended its 2024 regular season with two wins last week, improving to a 3-5-3 in conference, and 3-8-3 overall. The Rebels lost just one of their last five games.
Champlin Park clinched their second conference win of the season on Sept. 30, beating Osseo 2-1 on the road with goals from Olivia Mehl and Tatum Pietsch to continue a strong end of the regular season run. Mehl has been Champlin Park’s best-attacking outlet thus far this season despite a highly-difficult early run. She entered Wednesday’s game with three goals and two assists.
The Rebels were host to Coon Rapids on Oct. 2 where the team netted a 10-1 win. The Cardinals have struggled this season, not unlike Champlin Park, but recently picked up their first two wins of the season, beating Park Center and Johnson to pick up some momentum.
The evening began quickly for Champlin Park, with Ainsley Krebsbach scoring the opening goal after eight minutes. Kailey Layde added a second four minutes later with an arching shot from 30 yards out that beat the keeper to make it 2-0. Already with a firm lead, the Rebels poured pressure down the right side and looked for spaces for Megan Collins and Sophie Blanchette. The latter ran onto a good ball from Kaila Hayden in the 18th minute, using her pace to create space for a one-on-one shot to make it 3-0.
Midfielders Layde, Krebsbach, Blanchette, and Amelie Vangay all took turns dropping excellent passes over the Coon Rapids backline, creating big opportunities for Champlin Park’s athletic front line to beat their marks. This tactic resulted in two more goals before halftime, one for Hayden and one for Ava Madson.
Champlin Park led on shots on goal 15-0 at halftime, with Coon Rapids goalkeeper Aaliyah Williams deserving considerable credit with 10 saves. The Rebels were completely in control, with their defense snuffing out the few chances the Cardinals had to build forward.
Head coach Alvarez noted after the game that the coming win over Coon Rapids and close victory at Osseo were a perfect way to conclude the regular season for the Rebels.
“This is what we needed,” he said. “We needed to end the regular season well and give ourselves an argument going into sections. The Osseo win was a big one for us, today getting the goals, that’s what we needed to show.”
The Rebels kept their foot on the gas in the second half. Samanatha Harbaugh won a battle for the ball, racing down the left wing and clipping the rebound in after an initial shot was blocked to make it 6-0. Leading scorer Olivia Mehl got her goal for the day after running onto another long ball and slotting home a calm shot.
A penalty kick gave Coon Rapids a brief respite, adjusting the score to 7-1, but Champlin Park’s 11 scored off a rebound on a blocked penalty for the Rebels soon after to make it 8-1. Hayden scored her second of the day and Mia Schellenberg converted on a late penalty kick to complete the 10-1 scoreline and ensure Champlin Park ended the regular season on the best note possible.
Alvarez explained that the Rebels will hope for a good seed in the coming section tournament, but that he felt confident in Champlin Park’s ability to play whoever they draw, including the top performing teams in the area.
“We want to try and get as high a seed as possible, but we can do well in whatever seed we get and we can go toe-to-toe with any team,” Alvarez said. “The fact is we’re excited. In the regular season, we had chances to damage Maple Grove (1-0 regular season loss) and Spring Lake Park (3-1 regular season loss) but we didn’t finish our chances. ... We knew we were going to be a scary team come October and we’re there now. ... We need to remember It’s you against you now.”
Fourth-seed Champlin Park will play in the Section 5AAA tournament the following week, hosting fifth-seed Osseo on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
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