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Blaine girls surge past Champlin Park in second half for section crown

By Dominic Davis, SportsEngine, 06/07/17, 7:00AM CDT

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The Bengals were down 5-2 at the half, but scored eight goals in the second half.


Blaine's Abby Jones (8) moves the ball upfield during play against Champlain Park. Jones netted 4 goals in the Bengals' Section 7 championship June 7 at Osseo High School. Photo by Korey McDermott, SportsEngine


Blaine midfielder Isabella Erne, (13) fights though a Rebel defender during the Section 7 championship game against Champlain Park. Erne had 2 goals in the contest. Photo by Korey McDermott, SportsEngine

Abby Jones scored four goals in Blaine’s 10-8 Section 7 final win against Champlin Park at Osseo High School on Wednesday.

This is the second season Jones led Blaine to the state tournament. She scored four goals in last year’s section final against Centennial.

However, the senior gives a lot of credit to her teammates for helping put her in positions to play well.

“I always just get really good passes from my teammates and they’re always looking for me,” Jones said. “I’m pretty thankful for that, and I just gotta put it away for them.”

Blaine head coach Dennis Osbeck said Jones’ play has been crucial to the success of this team. She has scored 166 goals in her career so far, including 70 this season.

“When she gets the ball, she can pretty much do everything,” Osbeck said. “She’s so important.”

Osbeck said Jones has become more confident since last season’s section final.

When these two teams played last season in the section semifinal, Jones scored nine goals. This time around, Blaine needed to dig itself out of a hole.

Champlin Park led 5-2 at halftime. Jones helped spark a comeback for her side with three of Blaine’s eight goals in the second half.

The junior said they regained control of the game after halftime when they realized they still had plenty of time on the clock.

“We really started to pick up our momentum up after half because we were only down by three, and we knew we could pick it back up,” Jones said.

Osbeck said the team were not competing as hard as he was used to seeing in the first half.

Then, the team flipped a switch.

“Just get back to what we know: play hard, work hard,” Osbeck said. “Kind of got it back in their head to do the things we did in the first two section games.”

Champlin Park head coach Kelsey McCann said Jones made the game difficult for them.

“She is a little energizer bunny and has a lot of speed and explosiveness, but the main thing is just getting in her head,” McCann said. “If you can faceguard her and get in her head, that’s the best way to stop her.”

Champlin Park did its best, but could not keep Jones’ goal tally down.

The Bengals lost in the quarter-finals at state last season. Blaine’s leading goal scorer said there is no more room for error as the team begins its run for the state title.

“We just gotta keep our intensity high, be motivated, and make sure we’re doing everything right, no mistakes now,” Jones said.

First Report

Blaine advanced to the state tournament after a 10-8 comeback win against Champlin Park to claim the Section 7 title at Osseo High School on Wednesday night.

Abby Jones put Blaine (15-1) ahead in the first minute of play, but Champlin Park responded, hitting the net for four consecutive goals to build a 4-1 lead.

Gina Rosvold from Blaine and Sam Nolan from Champlin Park (12-5) each added a goal to end the first half 5-2 in favor of the Rebels.

Blaine came out of halftime with a lot of energy, and offense, with Isabella Erne, Abby Jones, and Ava Engler each notching a tally to tie the game.

Lauren Witt answered immediately to break the tie and gave Champlin Park the advantage again.

Abby Jones scored two of Blaine’s last five goals to lead the Bengals over Champlin Park.


Blaine goaltender Sarah Ganley with a point blank save June 7 against Champlain Park. Photo by Korey McDermott, SportsEngine

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Section 7 champions, the Bengals, pose for parents with their medals. Photo by Korey McDermott, SportsEngine


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