Pete Hayes’ offensive philosophy is rather simple.
“We say get the ball in the box and good things will happen,” the Anoka boys soccer coach said. “We call that the big house. That’s where you want to live, in the big houses.”
The fourth-seeded Tornadoes lived large amid a heavy downpour Tuesday night, edging fifth-seeded Eagan 2-1 in a Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal at Benilde-St. Margaret’s.
Anoka’s two goals came within a minute of each other early in the first half.
The first came in the 11th minute, as junior forward Blake Doyea slid a shot toward Eagan goalie Dalton VonKaenel. The ball deflected off VonKaenel, then hit a Wildcats defender and bounced into the net.
“It’s soaking wet out, the ball skips and I was just looking for a rebound or for it to bank off someone else,” Doyea said. “That’s what happened.”
Anoka (15-3-2) struck again in the 12th minute, as junior Miguel Martinez-Urrutia scored on a cross from junior midfielder Donny Guimont.
“We had two good chances to score, and we capitalized on both of them,” Doyea said, “so we’ll take it.”
Just like that, the defending state champs were up 2-0.
“It’s very difficult when they’re two very sloppy goals,” Eagan coach Alan Merrick said. “Going down 2-0 to that was a bit of a pitfall for us. We dug a hole too deep.”
Particularly against an Anoka team that is so stout defensively. Eagan scored in the 23rd minute, as junior midfielder Ryan Conroy slid a shot on the ground to beat the goalie, but that was all the Wildcats’ attack could muster.
Eagan (13-4-3) controlled possession for much of the second half but failed to generate any outstanding opportunities.
“We were a yard or a foot away from chances that were great in the second half,” Merrick said. “We couldn’t get anything on target or get that pure chance that we could put away.”
Merrick credited Anoka for what he called “spirited defending.”
“It’s very difficult to break that cement defense,” he said.
That is Anoka’s calling card. Hayes described Anoka as a counterattacking team.
“We teach jockey, jockey on defense, stay in front of people, block shots,” Hayes said. “We’ve got an all-state goalie (junior Jake Peterson), and it seems to work for us.
“It’s not pretty,” Hayes joked, “but we’ll take it.”
It has proven to be effective, particularly in the postseason. Each of Anoka’s three state wins last year on its way to the Class 2A title were also by 2-1 scores.
Doyea said the experiences gained from last year’s run have proved beneficial for the Tornadoes, who are unbeaten in their past 13 matches.
“These kids know what this is about,” Hayes said. “They weren’t nervous before the game or anything like that, so I think that probably helped getting those early goals, too. They know what it’s about, and they know what St. Cloud’s about, so we’re excited to go there.
“I think this is actually a better team than last year,” Hayes added. “We kind of surprised some people last year, and we have some good offense and good defense, so I think we have a well-rounded team.”
Anoka will face unseeded Minneapolis Washburn on Monday in a state semifinal in St. Cloud. Washburn upset No. 1 Minnetonka 4-3 on Tuesday on an overtime goal by Sam Abrams.
