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Eagles' Ledy proves he's ready

By Loren Nelson, Editor, 06/10/10, 2:28AM CDT

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Senior helps Totino-Grace engineer narrow state semifinal escape over Eagan

Chad Ledy had done his part.

The Totino-Grace senior had scored two goals, half his team’s total.

Now the he could only watch the action at the opposite end of the field as the clock, agonizingly slow, worked toward zero.

Except it was hard, really hard, to watch.

“It was definitely scary,” Ledy said. “I mean, geez.”

Yeah, geez.

With the Eagles clinging to a one-goal lead and time running out in the fourth quarter, Eagan’s Connor Simpson ripped a shot off the left goalpost. Then, with 40 seconds left, Wildcats’ star Will Hersman raced from one end of the field to another, bouncing a shot that looked destined to pop up and into an expansive patch of unguarded net.

“Right when I let it go, I was convinced it was going in,” Hersman said. “Then at the last second, I could see it hit the crossbar and I was just …”

Crushed.

Totino-Grace won the Minnesota State High School League state tournament semifinal 4-3 on Thursday, June 10, at Mounds View High School.

The victory set up a championship showdown with juggernaut Benilde-St. Margaret’s (15-1) at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 11, at Mounds View. No. 1-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s , a 19-4 winner over Wayzata in Thursday’s other semifinal, beat No. 2 seed Totino-Grace (15-3) twice during the regular season.

“It’s going to be a tough game with Benilde, of course,” Ledy said. “They’ve been smoking everybody.  

“But we’re a different team than what we were in the first two games.”

Opportunistic on offense. Stifling on defense. The Eagles have the game to compete, and beat most anybody. Eagan does, too.

“We don’t take a backseat to anybody when it comes to defense,” Eagan coach Bob Felter said. “I thought we played some great defense, too.”

Early goals by Totino-Grace star midfielders Giuseppe Palermo and Nik Colpits gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead after the opening quarter. The first of Ledy’s two goals made it 3-0 in the second quarter.

“We deserved better early in the game,” Totino-Grace coach Justin Hoban said. “We outplayed them significantly, but they hung tough. Then in the second half they outplayed us.”

A goal by Sam Kanwischer with 19 seconds left in the third quarter pulled the Wildcats to within 4-3 and set up the wild finish.

Simpson’s shot of the goalpost. Hersman’s off the crossbar. There were a few more Eagan shots that hit posts, too.

“The pipes and all that,” Felter said, “I guess they are the goalie’s friend.”

“I was convinced it was going in,” Hersman repeated. “What are you going to do?”

For his part, Ledy knew he had to have a big game.

"My coaches all told me I had to step up," he said. "So I stepped up."

“We know how teams are going to defend us,” Hoban said about teams locking down on Eagles midfielders Palermo and Colpitts. “There’s no secret how our bread is buttered. We talked to Chad before the game and said, ‘Chad you are a monster, you’ve got to play like it.’ ”

On what proved to be the winning goal, Ledy fired a shot from long range and a wide angle that appeared to be laser-sighted into the upper right corner.

“High to high, that was a beauty,” Hoban said.

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Three Stars

1. Chad Ledy, Totino-Grace
The Eagles' senior attackman scored two goals, including the game winner on wicked shot from both long range and a tough angle.

2. Ryan Zeilinger, Totino-Grace
The senior goaltender was credited with making just eight saves, but he stood his ground and didn't flinch in the final quarter when Eagan's top offensive stars threw everything but their duffel bags at him.

3. Will Hersman, Eagan
Senior midfielder didn't score, but he won six of nine face-offs, shared the team lead with three ground balls and made the play of the game -- almost -- when he made an end-to-end dash with less than a minute left and a bounced the ball off the turf and then off the  crossbar.

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