The Becker Bulldog girls soccer team concluded their season Oct. 13 with a loss to St. Francis in the Section quarterfinal.

Final score was 4-0.

Game time temperature was 60° with a very gusty wind. 

St. Francis came into the matchup as the #1 seed in the Section 6AA playoffs and despite the imposing record, the Lady Bulldogs found themselves only down 2-0 at halftime. 

The Bulldogs held the Saints from scoring again until halfway through the second half and again 10 minutes later. The game was ripe for an upset, but the Bulldogs couldn’t find the twine in their shot attempts.

Just a month-and-a-half ago, this same Bulldog unit lost 11-1 to the Fighting Saints in a dominating display of offense. This time, Becker was down two strong experienced defensive starters (senior Sarena St. Denis and junior. Ava Ewald) due to injuries. 

The platoon of replacements and reshuffled players did tremendously well. 

St. Francis controlled most of the game with their athleticism, skill, and experience, but the plucky Bulldogs fought hard the full 80 minutes. Though they finished their season with the loss, the Becker faithful in attendance were extremely proud of how well they played.

Junior goalkeeper Liz Mackendanz had 26 saves in the loss.

“This season was so fun with these girls, they all worked so hard and it was sad to see Ava and Sarena be out for the end,” said Senior defender Meagan Haessly. “But I loved stepping up and playing where we needed and the team still worked great together even though we were missing two great players.”

“Not having those ladies [St. Denis and Ewald] was a huge loss on our back line, “ said Becker Head Coach ben Strom. “But we still played great. It was a vast improvement over a short period of time! So proud of how they all played! “

Strom loved how his team created some good scoring chances, and realized the game could have gone differently if those shots had gone in for them. 

“Overall, I’m super happy with how they played to the very end,” he said. “Such a fantastic group, and an irreplaceable group of seniors!”

 “St. Francis is a strong and aggressive team, but we hung in there and played our best,” said Senior defender Za’Nya Baker. “We did a great job at working together as a team and cheering each other on. I’ve had a great time with all these girls throughout my soccer career, and I will never forget them or the fun practices we had over the years.”

Becker finished the 2021 season with a 2-10 record.