Sports Roundup: Knights Boys Soccer Poised To Win First-Ever Conference Title

It's been quite an autumn for the St. Michael-Albertville boys soccer team, as the Knights are poised to win their first-ever Mississippi 8 Conference championship with a victory on Thursday night.

Boys Soccer

A 3-0 defeat of Rogers in its final pre-playoff home game on Tuesday put the STMA boys soccer team in the catbird seat to win its inaugural circuit championship as the Knights improved to 9-4-2 overall and 5-0-1 in conference play with one game remaining in the regular season.

Justin McLain scored twice versus the Royals, giving him 14 goals on the season, with Steven Jones netting his sixth goal of the season in the shutout. Goalkeeper Cole Christian made four saves for his fourth clean sheet of the season.

STMA closes out the regular season at Cambridge-Isanti (6-5-1 overall, 2-3 conference) on Thursday at 7 p.m. A Knights win or a Buffalo loss to Rogers clinches sole possession of the Mississippi 8 for STMA.

Girls Soccer

The STMA girls soccer team brought its overall record to 9-2-4 on the season with a 0-0 tie at Rogers on Tuesday, coming on the heels of a 2-1 loss at Anoka on Saturday that ended a 12-game unbeaten streak for the Knights.

Paige Voigt leads the team with 10 goals this fall, followed by Andrea Boisner, Jessica Johnson and Makenzie Langdok with six goals apiece. Goalkeeper MiCale Jensen has 162 saves this season.

The Knights enter the final game of the Mississippi 8 schedule tied with Rogers atop the conference with identical 4-0-1 records. 

STMA hosts Cambridge-Isanti at 7 p.m. Thursday in the final game of the regular season. A win or a Rogers loss to Buffalo clinches sole possession of the circuit championship for the Knights.

Girls Tennis

Following a 13-8 regular season, the STMA girls tennis team was handed a tenth seed for the Section 5AA Tournament.

The Knights begin post-season play at No. 7 Coon Rapids at 4 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the sectional bracket. A win advances STMA to the quarterfinal round against either Fridley or Centennial on Friday. 

Volleyball

A three-game match loss (25-21, 25-21, 25-17) came Tuesday at the hands of Class No. 1 Bethlehem Academy, but a three game sweep of Cambridge-Isanti last week kept the STMA volleyball team atop the Mississippi 8 standings with a 4-1 conference mark and an 11-6 overall mark. Individual statistics were not made available.

The Knights host the STMA Tournament this weekend, beginning on Friday and running through Saturday. The home side takes on Litchfield in a first-round game at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Results from scheduled meets involving the STMA girls and boys cross-country teams were not reported.