About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Inside U.S. Bank Stadium on a misty Wednesday afternoon, Sartell fell to Cretin-Derham Hall 4-3 in a thrilling overtime defeat, ending its historic 18-game winning streak.
"We knew we had a special group," Sartell head coach Caleb Forberg said. "We were trying to do things that we've never done before. You come out against a great team, you got the nerves, you just try to stay in the moment from the start. I'm proud of them."
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The Sabres struggled to produce much offensive pressure early on, succumbing to six Raider corner kicks before getting their first of the game. As senior goalkeeper Owen Woodruff stood strong for 39 minutes, Cretin's Will Roedler broke through in the waning seconds of the first half to put the Raiders up 1-0 going into the break.
Sartell quickly reconfigured, getting two goals from senior forward Lucas McGee in the first 10 minutes of the second half after he missed a PK opportunity earlier game.
Despite the volume scoring, the Raiders continued to respond and extend their league throughout the second half.
Sartell senior forward Lucas McGee kicking a PK vs. Cretin-Derham Hall in the first half of the Class 2A State Semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. McGee ended with two goals as Cretin-Derham Hall won 4-3 in overtime. "I'm really proud of Lucas," Forberg said. "We have a lot of trust in him and the goalie made a great play [on the first half PK], but for him to bounce back and score a couple of goals in the second half is big for him. It's easy to roll over in that moment."
As Cretin-Derham Hall continued its timely responses to McGee's attack, the Raiders' confidence never dwindled as the clock rapidly approached the final seconds.
With Sartell down 3-2 with under 12 minutes to play, senior forward Alex Pooler found the back of the net from distance to pull the Sabres back into the game and inevitably force an overtime.
"Sartell is the best team we've played all year," Cretin head coach Russ Turner said. "They pushed back, they didn't give up and it was an amazing game of high school soccer."
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Just as the Sabres did in the State Quarterfinals, Cretin's Colin Hafenbrack quickly put an end to the extra frame off a one-timer in the first minute to suddenly put an end to Sartell's season.
The Sartell soccer starters huddling before the 2026 Class 2A State Semifinals on Nov. 4. Cretin-Derham Hall won 4-3 in overtime. "We were confident [going into this game], and we showed we were confident with this game," Forberg said. "We felt like we were one of the best teams in the state, so we wanted to go show that here today. [This team] means so much to me. I'm proud of how they continually battled back; we didn't roll over. We were right there."
The Sabres will fight for a third-place finish against Blake at noon, Thursday, Nov. 5 at West St. Paul Regional Athletics Center.
You can reach St. Cloud Times sports reporter David Jacobs and send story ideas and tips to djacobs@gannett.com . Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @By_DavidJacobs , and on Instagram @ByDavidJacobs .
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: 'We were right there'; Sartell boys soccer loses OT heartbreaker in state semis
Source: Sports
