A wild second half in Wednesday’s Class 3A girls soccer state tournament quarterfinal at Farmington High School featured five goals in a 4-2 Edina comeback — a dramatic victory over St. Michael-Albertville that kept the Hornets undefeated (20-0) and bound for the semifinals at 8 a.m. Tuesday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Edina’s Izzy Engle, recently named Ms. Soccer in Class 3A, padded her considerable resumé with a second-half hat trick. She also put the game-winning goal in motion with a useful corner kick that teammate Grace Pohlidal headed home.
St. Michael-Albertville scored in identical fashion for a 1-0 lead. Senior midfielder/defender Maggie Kramer redirected a ball from a corner kick off her head and into the Edina goal for a 1-0 lead in the 46th minute. Senior midfielder Juliana Faith Zerna set the stunning goal in motion with a great ball on the corner kick.
Top seed Edina had beaten the Knights (12-7-1) twice this season by a combined score of 3-0.
Her team down 1-0, Engle benefited from a fortunate bounce off a defender for the tying goal with about 20 minutes remaining. Engle, who is committed to Notre Dame, ran her goal total this season to 35.
Make that 36. Engle took a pass with her back to the Knights’ goal before turning and burying the ball for a 2-1 lead with about 17 minutes remaining.
Kramer also ordered a double. She scored again off a Zerna corner kick, and the game was leveled 2-2.
Not for long. Engle’s corner kick found Pohlidal for the clinching score. The game decided, Engle got the last word with a long goal to complete the hat trick.
