The St. Paul Academy Spartans became Class A boys state champions after defeating Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa 3-2 in the state championship Friday night.

St. Paul Academy’s Ezra Straub (11) collides with Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa defender Grady Streit during the first half of the Class A championship game of the Boys State Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium, Friday Nov. 3, 2023. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

The first 40 minutes were relatively quiet on the offensive end. St. Paul had a couple of shots on goal, but couldn’t quite get any to go. Pine Island drew first blood at the 20-minute mark, and it was the only goal of the first half.

The Spartans answered back quickly after the half with a goal from junior Liam Sullivan in the 48th minute. Not long after, they took the lead on a penalty kick from senior Orion Kim in the 54th minute.

The nail in the coffin came courtesy of senior Awaale Osman on a free kick in the 73rd minute, putting SPA up by two with just seven minutes to go. Pine Island rallied and scored with 13 seconds left to play, but the two-goal deficit proved too much to overcome.

St. Paul senior captains Awaale Osman, Orion Kim and Cooper Olson talked about what it meant to end their high school careers on a high note after playing together for as long as they have.

“I would consider us a pretty tight captain’s core,” Olson said. “We all hang out with each other a ton. We really didn’t want this season to end, and I think this was the best way to go out. And the fact that I get to do it with these two guys next to me is an unreal experience.”

“I’m not playing club from now on, so especially since this was my last game ever, it was just so special for me to do it with this community and this team. It was just amazing,” Kim said.

Junior Ezra Straub said that even though they had a multi-goal lead with just a few minutes left, the team couldn’t afford to celebrate early.

“I think going up 3-1, it was also really important, there was still seven or eight minutes left in the game,” he said. “I’ve seen it over and over again. Teams turn off after they’re up two goals, and that’s just too dangerous. If we shut off like that, they could score two, and that would be a heartbreaker. We went up 3-1, we still played hard defense, didn’t give up. I think that was the most important thing.”

Spartans head coach Max Lipset said he couldn’t have been happier with the team’s performance not just in the victory, but over the course of the whole season.

“These boys made it interesting, the way we had to fight back from the 1-0 deficit,” he said. “But the character they showed and the quality in the second half was just amazing. As a coach, I just couldn’t be more proud and happy with the performance of the team today and over the course of the season, and for these seniors, the course of their four years.”

SPA’s championship victory made them Class A champions for the second year in a row, the second time the school has won back-to-back championships, and the first time since 1986-87.

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