St. Michael-Albertville Girls Soccer Enjoying View from the Top

St. Michael-Albertville's revamped defense and solid offense made it four in a row Thursday night with a 2-1 win over Rogers, giving Megan Johnson's girls a season-sweep over the Royals for the first time in a while. 

"It's always hard to beat a rival twice," Johnson said. "But we're in good shape. We like where we're at heading into the last third of the season." 

The Knights are on top, looking down at the rest of the conference with at least a two-game lead in the win column heading into this weekend. 

Against the Section 8AA lineup, more importantly, STMA's girls sit as the No. 1 seed, with an important match against Anoka set for this weekend (11 a.m. at the Education Center field). 

Credit Johnson and a host of young talent for keeping the Knights on top. STMA returned only five starters from last year's team that actually was minutes from making the state tournament. They lost everyone on defense, not including keeper MiCale Jensen.

"They've really come together so well. You get girls from different clubs and summer programs, so we spent a lot of practice leading up to the season working on chemistry and playing together. It's fun to watch it pay off," Johnson said. 

Leading the way is the centerpiece of the Knights' attack, Maddie Barr. The senior midfielder had a key goal in the 2-1 win over the Royals. Another senior, Brady Schirmers, is the team's vocal leader.  

The Knights' frontline is full of underclassmen, but the girls have on-field experience. Makenzie Langdok is just an eighth-grader, but has played well.

All eyes are winning that "one more" game.

"Winning the conference is always a goal, but taking that section title after getting to the final and getting so close a couple years in a row now is the goal. That's what we're all working toward," Johnson said.

A win over Anoka Saturday, followed by exacting a bit of revenge over Buffalo later in the week, would be a step in the right direction. 

"The nice thing about playing through the conference twice is you get that second shot at a team you maybe didn't play your best game against," Johnson said. "Then again they get another chance at you. So we just need to finish this out and put ourselves in good position for another run."