Late Goal Lifts Northfield Past Owatonna

Considering how many chances each club had, it's hard to believe Owatonna's makeup girls' soccer match ended up 1-0 in Northfield's favor on a goal late in the second half. The Huskies and Raiders traded scoring opportunities throughout the chilly evening, occasionally in quick transition with counterattacks and near breakaways for the Huskies several times.

The Raiders goal with just under seven minutes remaining puts them in second place in the Big Nine standings, behind conference champ Mankato West. Northfield won the conference crown last year. OHS (6-6-1, 5-2-1) closes the season with a home match Tuesday against Winona, a trip to John Marshall Thursday and another makeup game on Saturday against Rochester Mayo. Owatonna had their six-game winning streak snapped by top-rated Eagan Saturday.

The Owatonna boys won a big Section 1AA showdown with Lakeville South Saturday 4-3. OHS found itself behind midway through the first half when Cougars' freshman Lioc Mesanvi scored the first of his two goals. Owatonna answered 17 seconds later on a tally by Asad Ali with the assist to Lane Versteeg. Three minutes later Sam Sampson scored off a corner kick from David Keller. Jack Hanson added another before halftime for a 3-1 Owatonna lead.

The Cougars scored in the 21st minute of the second half to trim the lead to 3-2. Zach Williams scored from Ali about five minutes later for a 4-2 advantage. South scored with just under ten minutes left for the 4-3 final.

Owatonna (10-3-1) goes to Winona Tuesday and hosts Rochester JM Thursday to close out their regular season.