Sports Roundup: Wildcats Soccer Opens Sectional Play Victoriously

Tuesday was a good day to be a Wildcat soccer fan as both the Eagan boys and girls soccer teams claimed wins in their postseason openers at home to advance to within two games of the state tournament.

Girls Soccer

The No. 3 ranked Eagan girls soccer team, seeded first in the Section 3AA Tournament, rolled to a bracket-commencing 4-0 win over eighth-seeded St. Paul Highland Park.

Katie Peterson scored twice, with Angela LaCroix and Katie Hasslinger both claiming one goal apiece in the win. Goalkeeper Kristen Knutson made one save in 62 minutes to earn the shutout before backup Erica Cimohowski finished off the clean sheet with one save in 18 minutes of play.

Eagan will host No. 4 seed Rosemount at 5 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals. It will be the Wildcats' final home game of the year as the 3AA finals will be played at Park of Cottage Grove High School at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Boys Soccer

The Eagan boys soccer team, ranked fifth in Class AA and second in the Section 3AA Tournament, defeated No. 7 seed Rosemount 3-1 in its opening contest.

Individual statistics were not made available. The Wildcats will host sixth-seeded Park at 7 p.m. Thursday in the squad's final home game of the year. A win advances Eagan to the sectional final at Park High School at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Volleyball

The Eagan volleyball team won in four games (25-8, 25-15, 23-25, 25-14) at Prior Lake to improve to 17-3 overall and maintain its one-match lead atop the South Suburban Conference standings with an unblemished 8-0 circuit mark.

Individual statistics were not made available. The Wildcats, ranked fourth in Class AAA, can clinch the conference championship with a win over visiting Lakeville South on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.

The Cougars are ranked second in Class AAA and are in second-place in the South Suburban with a 7-1 conference mark. South's only conference loss came at Lakeville North — then ranked No. 1 — on Sept. 15. Eagan defeated then-No. 2 North in five games on Sept. 27.

Girls Tennis

The Eagan girls tennis team was eliminated in the Section 3AA semifinals after the second-seeded Wildcats were upset by No. 3 Rosemount on Tuesday.

Individual statistics were not made available. Selected members of the Wildcats squad will compete in the sectional individual tournament that begins on Friday at Lifetime Fitness in Lakeville.

Scores and statistics for a scheduled dual meet between Eagan and Lakeville North girls swim/dive teams were not reported.