DULUTH – Right at halftime during the Section 7AAA quarterfinal on Tuesday, the Duluth East girls did something that’s kind of become their thing.
They huddled up in a circle and started singing together.
“You put your right arm in, you take your right arm out, put your right arm in and you shake it all about,” they sang. “Do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around – that’s what it’s all about.”
The Greyhounds had every reason to have some fun during the game. They were already leading 11-0 at halftime against Cambridge-Isanti, eventually winning 14-0 and moving on to the Section 7AAA semifinal.
Lily Kuettel (5) of Duluth East controls the ball against Aveah Martin (23) of Cambridge-Isanti on Tuesday at Ordean Stadium in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
But Tuesday’s goal explosion wasn’t just luck; the Greyhounds have been getting better as playoffs approached for weeks now.
“They’re enjoying the game – which is key,” coach Steve Polkowski said. “When you’re playing stress-free as a team, you don’t care who scores the goals. The ball just moves naturally and you find open spaces. That’s what they’ve been doing for a couple games in a row now.”
Don’t get me wrong, though-the team is still serious when it counts, senior captain Julia Davis said. Even though they beat the Bluejackets earlier this season, they wanted to make sure there was no question on Tuesday.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
“This was a section game,” Davis said. “At the end of the day, we need to take it seriously and do what we know how to do.”
East scored six goals within just 15 minutes from kickoff and never gave Cambridge-Isanti a chance to get back into things.
The turning point came after one tough moment earlier this season-a 3-1 loss at Holy Angels, ranked No. 3 in Class AA.
Darby Friday, who scored five goals against Cambridge-Isanti, said that defeat got “in our heads,” but even late in that game versus Holy Angels they played better and since then they’ve kept improving, according to Polkowski.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
“Not that losses are ever good,” Polkowski said, “but I think it made us realize we have to show up and play right every single day.” Since then they’ve been steadily building momentum.
Eight different players scored for Duluth East on Tuesday; Lilly Kuettel and freshman Hadley Friday each had two goals.
The Greyhounds have always been tight-knit as a group, Davis added. On an overnight trip to Brainerd before another game against Bemidji-which they won 2-1-sophomore Hadley Friday started goofing around before halftime by singing aloud.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
“Then everyone joined in,” she said. “Since then , it’s become a recurring thing to start off the half. We just get loose , have fun and everyone’s on the same page and locked in.”
With this win , East – ranked ninth in Class AAA – will host Andover at 5:30 p. m. Friday here at Ordean Stadium. The Huskies squeaked past Anoka with a narrow 1 – 0 victory.
The Greyhounds beat Andover early this season , winning their opener by 5 – 1 , but they’re not looking past this next match toward any big championship talk yet.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
“We know we have come out strong , come out for every game like it’s the state championship,” Friday said. “When we do that , we catch teams off guard. When we get that first goal or score early , we’re unstoppable.”
Flohaug’s Hat Trick Powers East Boysn
Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group
Lundin Flohaug wasted no time scoring-just twenty seconds into his boys’ Section quarterfinal vs. Cambridge-Isanti-and finished with three goals total as East rolled to a 5-0 victory securing their spot Thursday night’s semifinal.
“From breakfast till school today I felt ready mentally,” Flohaug explained. “It’s my senior year-I’m going after every ball full tilt.”
The defense was rock solid too; no shots allowed first half while pressure stayed high throughout both halves.
This sets them up against Centennial Thursday night at 7:30 pm following their win over Andover last week (Cougars won their own match vs Andover). Their only meeting so far went Edge-East narrowly by one goal late September.
Clint Austin/Dulth Media Group
This article brought to you by Jamey Malcomb who has covered high school sports locally since October ’21 after years covering news elsewhere including Lake County News-Chronicle & Cloquet Pine Journal. He holds degrees from George Washington University & George Mason University.window. fb Async Init = function() { FB. init({ app Id : ‘929722297680135’, xfbml : true, version : ‘v₂₉’ }); }; (function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs=d. get Elements By Tag Name(s)[₀]; if(d. get Element By Id(id))return; js=d. create Element(s); js. id=id; js. src=’https://connect. facebook. net/en_US/sdk. js’; fjs. parent Node. insert Before(js, fjs); }(document,’script’,’facebook-jssdk’));
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