As the temperature turns colder, girls’ soccer heats up, facing off against the Minneapolis Camden/Edison/North Tommies in a highly anticipated start to their postseason. The Bears, ranked second in Class AA behind The Academy of Holy Angels, started the game on the attack, intercepting passes left and right until Livi Abboud-Young ‘27 scored just over a minute in. The Bears continued to push, with Abboud-Young setting up a chance for captain Sofia Wyatt ‘25 that led to a corner kick and sustained pressure. The pressure culminated in a goal by Lauren Breyer ‘29.
After continuing pressure, the Bears scored again by Anna Breyer ‘29. The offense continued with another goal by Lauren. Just 30 seconds later, Abboud-Young scored again off a corner kick. All this happened in the first six minutes of play, leading to a calm night for Reese Aafedt ‘27 in net and the clock running early. Abboud-Young put another one in the back of the net before being subbed off, scoring a hat trick in impressive time. The clock continued to run as the bears piled on goals, with Ellen Rippe ‘29, captain Naima Michael-Crushshon ‘25 (who scored her first goal of the season), Miren Osle ‘29 (who scored her first varsity goal), Gabi Grimm ‘26 (twice), and Alana Krush ‘27 adding to the onslaught in the first half with her first varsity goal. The Bears ended up leading 12-0 after the carnage of the first half.
Defender Emma Connor ‘25 resumed the demolition with her first varsity goal early in the second half. The Bears once again dominated possession, maintaining control for the entire second half. Aubrie Klein ‘27 put one in the back of the net soon after. She followed that up by scoring another one a few minutes later. Alex Mithun ‘27 continued the thrashing of the Tommies with her first varsity goal, bringing the total number of scorers up to 11. Grimm scored once again, giving the Bears their second hat trick of the night. As the game was coming to a close, Hannah Jones ‘26 added her first varsity goal, bringing the final score to 18-0 Bears.
After the game, the players celebrated their conference win. “We connected really well and played as a team,” Mithun said. “I liked how we put some challenges on the ball, like we only could have two touches in the second half, and we could only shoot with our left foot.” Connor agreed, adding, “it was fun because we got the opportunity to play a lot of players out of their normal positions, like I always play center back, and today I got to play forward and score a goal and assist some of my friends, which was really fun.”
After the celebration, the players exited the field to a massive crowd of supporters that included parents, friends, siblings, and other family members, “I’m super proud of this team and super excited for what’s ahead,” Klein remarked. “Look for us at the Bank [U.S. Bank Stadium],” Abboud-Young said.
