By Donny Henn
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

It'll be a consistent section powerhouse against an up-and-comer when La Crescent and Kasson-Mantorville square off in the championship game of the Section One, Class A tournament Friday night at the Rochester Regional Sports Stadium.

Second seeded La Crescent and No. 5 seed Kasson-Mantorville both escaped the section semifinals with back-to-back 1-0 wins on a rainy night at RRSS.

La Crescent opened with a 1-0 win over No. 3 seed Byron, and K-M followed with a 1-0 win over No. 9 seed Lake City.

La Crescent (16-3-1), coached by Ryan Raufus, will make its sixth straight appearance in the section final on Friday, while K-M (14-5-1), coached by Chris Soderberg, will play for a trip to state for the first time.

Last year, the KoMets lost to La Crescent in the section semifinals; the Lancers also own a 2-0 win over K-M a month ago in La Crescent.

"We found out that they are a very fast team," Soderberg said of La Crescent. "But I think we can match their speed this time."

K-M 1, LAKE CITY 0

Schouweiler scores only goal

A gallery of photos from the game

Kasson-Mantorville broke a scoreless tie about 20 minutes into the second half when senior Tori Schouweiler scored on a breakaway, converting a long pass from mid-field from Laurel Ramer.

"Laurel made a nice pass through the middle and Tori just beat their midfielder and made a nice shot on the goal," K-M coach Chris Soderberg explained.

Soderberg said K-M played a different formation in the second half and picked up its intensity on offense. The KoMets finished with a 13-5 advantage in shots on goal.

K-M goalie Kortney Kleber had five saves, and Drew Underdahl had 12 saves in a strong game for Lake City.

Lake City, coached by Mark Spence, was the surprise of the tournament with upsets over Winona High and top seeded Lourdes in the first two rounds. The Tigers had won three straight and five of their last six before Wednesday.

"We had beaten Lake City 4-0 a month ago, but they were an incredibly improved team from that time," Soderberg said. "We knew they were playing well and we'd have our work cut out."

Lake City finished with a record of 9-7-1, with a program record for wins.

LA CRESCENT 1, BYRON 0

Bears come up short

La Crescent avenged a 1-0 loss to Byron just two weeks earlier and spoiled the Bears' hopes of reaching the section championship game.

A gallery of photos from the game

The Lancers broke a scoreless tie midway through the second half when junior attacker Jena Kadlec took a pass from Autumn Hayes and scored from 18 yards. Hayes split two defenders and got the ball ahead to Kadlec, who converted into the net in the far corner.

La Crescent's defense did the rest, pitching its ninth shutout of the season.

"We did a great job of winning balls and maintaining possession," La Crescent coach Ryan Raufus said. "Our defense played phenomenol and really allowed Byron very few shots."

La Crescent freshman goalie Cheyenne Carpenter made four saves, and Byron goalie Kaitlyn Emanuel had seven saves.

"We're playing our best soccer at the right time," said Raufus, whose Lancers got their fourth straight win and 12th in the last 13.

Byron, coached by Marc Stangler, had won eight of its last nine games and finished with a 15-4-2 record.

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