Minot playing great as it enters the postseason
MINOT, N.D (BVM) — With the Western Dakota Association (WDA) regular season ending May 21, the Minot High School girls soccer team is finishing the season strong.聽聽
The Majettes are currently 11-0 and have been dominant in all of their games. The team boasts a staggering 85 goals scored to just four goals allowed in those games. Six of their players have scored five or more goals and they have the top-six assist leaders in the WDA.聽
鈥淲e have about six or seven girls that can score,鈥� Minot head coach Matt Pfau said. 鈥淒efensively if somebody takes out one of our top goal scorers somebody else can step up.鈥�
Junior forward MaLaih Burke is their top goal scorer with 17 goals and she is closely followed by senior Lainey Sandberg who has 11. They are No. 1 and No. 2 for goals scored in the WDA. Helping them score is the WDA assist leader Emerson Perrin who has 11 assists so far this season.聽
Perrin is one of three freshmen who have stepped up this season to give the Majettes some young talent. Maicee Burke and Bria Lewis are the other two. Along with Perrin鈥檚 assist she has also scored five goals, while Burke eight goals and eight assists. Lewis has been great off the bench coming and to help bolster Minot鈥檚 senior-led defense.
However, the team鈥檚 real strength is in their juniors and seniors. The Majettes have three seniors and 10 juniors who are the foundation of what Minot has been able to do this year. In particular, they are the ones that can remember what it felt like to lose in the state championship game back in 2019.聽
They remember being so close to a state title that when they entered this season it was on everyone鈥檚 mind and they鈥檙e goal was to get back to state.
鈥淚 think it has really driven them to stay focused,鈥� Pfau said.聽
Even when the girls weren鈥檛 officially practicing for Minot during their winter season training, it was the focus, but there was still some concern about what a year away from Majette soccer had done to the team.聽
鈥淚 think I was nervous coming into it, not having them for a full season and just to see where we were going to be,鈥� Pfau said.聽
Those concerns turned into the potential at a title run pretty quickly once the girls were allowed to play.
鈥淎fter our first game when we finally got to play 11 vs. 11,鈥� Pfau said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 miss a beat, everybody just played hard.鈥�
That continued throughout the season and now with the postseason coming up, Minot is preparing for every game as if it will be its last, reminding itself of what happened in 2019 so it doesn鈥檛 end it鈥檚 season with a loss.聽
鈥淲e have to be prepared for that and mentally locked in,鈥� Pfau said. 鈥淭hese opportunities don鈥檛 happen every year so let’s make the most of it.鈥�
The Majettes are ready to make the most of their opportunity with their goal scoring ability and stingy defense they have the ability to win that last game they didn鈥檛 win in 2019.聽
