The ball glides into the top right side of the net as Minot High goalkeeper, Garrett Weishaar, attempts to block it only 21 minutes and 51 seconds in to the game. West Fargo huddles around senior Lucas Miller in celebration of him scoring his first of two goals in the first game of state on Thursday, Oct. 11.
“It [the kick] was a good start and got everyone fired up,” Miller said. “It gave us some momentum and it was really nice to score first.”
The intensity increased when Miller doubled the pressure by scoring the first goal to pull the Packers ahead. With seven minutes left in the first half senior Randy Cernik was taken out of the game after being tripped and taking a hard fall when he was trying to pass the ball. Cernik returned to the game a few minutes after but that was not the end of the roughness brought on by the pressure of the state tournament.
“I was kind of mad,” Cernik said. “They [Minot] had been doing it the whole game and the refs weren’t calling anything.”
Three minutes into the second half Miller scores the second and final goal for the Packers. Minot will score their only goal with five minutes left in the second half by Ben Love on a free kick.
Although the Packers are in the same position as last year Coach Doug Millar believes that the boys should stay confident and know that they can compete with anybody.
The 2-1 win for the Packers will push them into the state finals against Bismarck Century tomorrow night at 7p.m. at Shanley High School.