Practice a Privilege for Grand Rapids Girls’ Soccer Ahead of 1st Ever State Tourney

“All for one and one for all” has been the mantra all season long for Grand Rapids girls’ soccer. Tomorrow, they will continue that rally cry as they play their first ever game at the Class AA state tournament.

The trip to state comes exactly one week after the Thunderhawks won the Section 7AA title, but their journey into the history books began well before then.

On a wet and windy October morning in Grand Rapids, the girls soccer team was practicing while the rest of the students had the day off, but unlike the dreary weather, they weren’t feeling gloomy about it.

“It feels awesome,” said senior captain Katie Harker. “This is the latest we’ve ever practiced. We’re used to these conditions, so the conditions don’t matter. We’re just all so happy and hyped up to be out here practicing.”

That’s because in overtime of a 0-0 section title game, senior captain Kylie DeBay rewrote the record books with a goal that lifted the Thunderhawks past Hermantown, sending them to their first state tournament appearance in program history.

“Honestly, I kind of blacked out,” laughed Harker. “I just started jumping. Everyone was cheering.”

“Surreal” was the word junior Quinn Cargill used to describe the moment. “I didn’t feel like we were going to state at that moment.”

“I didn’t even know what to feel,” admitted junior Ava Limberg. “Like, ‘Are we dreaming right now?’ Like, ‘What just happened?'”

The dream is now a reality, something that perhaps seemed unlikely after the T-Hawks dropped their first two games of the season while being outscored 9-0.

“Us making it to state shows all our work,” Limberg said. “We progressed a ton during the season. From the start to the end, [we are] a totally different team. I don’t think that one game is specifically like our whole season. We had some great games outside of that, but I think it’s shows the progress that we’ve made.

And they have a plan to continue progressing as they prepare for their quarterfinal match with #1 seed Mahtomedi.

“I think really just working on getting to the higher level of play,” said Cargill. “The speed of play is going to be way quicker, and we just have to be ready to be on our toes.”

It’s why the Thunderhawks have no qualms spending a gloomy October morning, on their day off, at soccer practice.

“I’m with my best friends,” said Harker. “We have such a good team chemistry and bond, and honestly, just our memories from practicing and being together, working this hard and having a great outcome, that’s what I’ll remember the most—the payoff.”

Grand Rapids goes into the Class AA state tournament unseeded and will take on top seed Mahtomedi in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, October 21 at 5:30 p.m. at Forest Lake High School.