ÍáÍáÂþ»­

Sponsored By
An organization or individual has paid for the creation of this work but did not approve or review it.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Seth Davidson’s heroics stun Lumberjacks, push Sartell to Section 8-3A title game

Despite its promising offensive effort, the Bemidji High ÍáÍáÂþ»­ boys soccer team’s season ended on Tuesday night in Sartell.

020A0839.jpg
Bemidji's Brady Riley brings the ball up the field in a 2-1 loss against Sartell in the Section 8-3A Tournament semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2023.
Courtesy / Lainie Hiller Photography

SARTELL – Despite its promising offensive effort, the Bemidji High ÍáÍáÂþ»­ boys soccer team’s season ended on Tuesday night.

Sartell’s Seth Davidson erased the Lumberjacks’ one-goal lead, scoring in the 26th and 78th minutes to give the Sabres a 2-1 win and a spot in the Section 8-3A Tournament championship game.

ADVERTISEMENT

Brady Riley scored his third goal in two postseason games for BHS to open the scoring. He headed in a pass from Reed Johnson in the sixth minute to give the Jacks a 1-0 lead. It came after a handful of high-quality chances for Bemidji in the opening moments.

Sartell’s leading scorer added to his team-high on a penalty kick in the 26th minute. Davidson scored his 19th goal, beating sophomore keeper Kellen Heuer to his right for the equalizer. Charlie Zellmann was flagged for a handball in the penalty area to set up the Sabres a PK chance.

The Lumberjacks finished the first half with seven shots on goal before carrying their offensive momentum into the final 40 minutes. Isaac Stone and Noah Meyer had scoring chances that were thwarted by Sartell keeper Kyan Rieder early in the second half. Stone had another chance while the game was tied but missed wide of the left post.

020A0380.jpg
A host of Bemidji High ÍáÍáÂþ»­ boys soccer players attempt to defend a ball in front of their goal in a 2-1 loss against Sartell in the Section 8-3A Tournament semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2023.
Courtesy / Lainie Hiller Photography

Stone and Meyer almost connected with roughly 12 minutes left in regulation. Stone crossed a ball to Meyer in front of the Sartell goal before the header bounced wide. Riley followed with a strike that a Sabre deflected to prevent the go-ahead goal. The ensuing corner from Johnson went to Stone, who missed wide again on the far corner.

Despite a significant advantage in shots attempted for BHS, Sartell scored the eventual winner in the 78th minute off a set-piece chance. Marcus Congdon’s free kick went to Davison, who scored with under three minutes remaining. The Jacks finished the game with an 18-5 lead in shots attempted, with 11 of them being on target. Rieder made 10 saves.

Bemidji’s 12-match unbeaten streak snapped on Tuesday, which also ended its six-game clean sheet run. Rick Toward told Joel Hoover on the KBUN postgame show that the Lumberjacks surrendered more than half of their goals on set-piece chances this season. BHS finished with a record of 12-3-3.

Sartell 2, Bemidji 1

ADVERTISEMENT

BHS 1 0 – 1

SAR 1 1 – 2

Bemidji – Riley 6’ (Johnson).

Sartell – Davidson 26’ (PK) 78’ (Congdon).

Saves – Heuer (BHS) 1; Rieder 10.

Jared Rubado took over as sports editor at the Bemidji Pioneer in February 2023 after working as a sports reporter at the Alexandria Echo Press and sports editor of the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal newspaper group.

He graduated from Augustana University in 2018 with journalism and sports management degrees.

You can reach Jared at jrubado@bemidjipioneer.com or (218) 316-2613. Follow him on Twitter at
What To Read Next
Get Local

ADVERTISEMENT