State boys soccer: Sondag’s Golden Goal lifts Eagan into 3A finals – Twin Cities

Eagan midfielder Jake Sondag (8) scores the winning goal as his shot goes past Washburn goal keeper Henry Johnson, left, and Washburn defender Ryan Josephson (6) during the second overtime of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. Eagan won 1-0 in double overtime. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan midfielder Jake Sondag (8) scores the winning goal as his shot goes past Washburn goal keeper Henry Johnson during the second overtime of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. Eagan won 1-0 in double overtime. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan midfielder Jake Sondag, left, celebrates after scoring the winning goal as Washburn goal keeper Henry Johnson looks on during the second overtime of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. Eagan won 1-0 in double overtime. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Washburn goal keeper Henry Johnson, right, stops a shot on goal past defender Ryan Josephson (6) as Eagan midfielder Jake Sondag (8) goes in for another shot during the first overtime of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. Eagan won 1-0 in double overtime. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan midfielder Jake Sondag’s, left, shot is stopped by Washburn goal keeper Henry Johnson (00) as Washburn defender Sam Bednarz, center, defends during the second half of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. Eagan won 1-0 in double overtime. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Washburn midfielder Elliot Walthour (8) screens out Washburn defender Ryan Josephson during the first overtime of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. Eagan won 1-0 in double overtime. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan midfielder Syon Thapa (2) heads the ball past Washburn midfielder Ronan Selbo (10) during the second half of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. Eagan won 1-0 in double overtime. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan midfielder Eric Noll, left, falls after being tripped up by Washburn midfielder Oscar Jischke resulting in a penalty kick during the first half of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan forward Zayan Oliyath (9) goes up for a header with Washburn defender Sam Bednarz (14) during the first half of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan forward Darius Knox, center, battles for control of the ball with Washburn defender Sam Bednarz (14) and midfielder Ronan Selbo (10) during the first half of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan forward Zayan Oliyath, center, battles for control of the ball with Washburn midfielder Julian Brower-Snelson (7) and Washburn defender Sam Bednarz (14) during the first half of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan midfielder Owen Juntilla (6) takes a shot on goal past Washburn midfielder Nicolas Amaya (17) during the first half of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Eagan midfielder Jake Sondag (8) scores the winning goal as his shot goes past Washburn goal keeper Henry Johnson, left, and Washburn defender Ryan Josephson (6) during the second overtime of the Class 3A Semifinals of the State Boys Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2023. Eagan won 1-0 in double overtime. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Buy images from this gallery

Addressing the media about 10 minutes after their semifinal win, some Eagan Wildcats were still in awe of what transpired Wednesday morning.

“My heart is just through the roof right now,” said Asher Brunette. “It’s like a mixture of excited and just nervous, kind of.”

“The adrenaline rush after that goal is nuts. It’s unbelievable,” Blake Prouty added.

And from Jake Sondag? “I can’t even process that we’re going to the final.”

But the Wildcats are. For the first time in school history.

It was Sondag’s Golden Goal with 4:21 left in double overtime that lifted Eagan past Minneapolis Washburn 1-0 in a Class 3A boys soccer semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Winners off 11 straight games, the fourth-seeded Wildcats (19-1-1) will be back in downtown Minneapolis for Friday’s 8 a.m. final to face No. 2 Maple Grove, which beat Andover 3-1 in the other semifinal.

“It’s been our dream senior season,” said Syon Thapa.

With a run down the right side, Sondag beat his defender into the box, and his centering pass found leading scorer Eric Noll in front. His shot was stopped; however, Sondag raced in to poke the loose ball across the line and set off a celebration near the USA-themed student section.

Something emphasized to Sondag and other Eagan strikers all season is to follow the shot, because you never know what could happen.

“Our production has gone way up this year, so just making the keeper nervous,” said Prouty, a Class 3A Mr. Soccer finalist.

“We just kind of got lost a little bit, and it ended up just rolling across the line,” said Washburn coach Aaron Percy. “It was a tough way to go out for sure.”

In 50 years of the state high school soccer tournament, a Minneapolis public school has yet to hoist championship hardware. The Millers (15-1-3) came oh so close to having that opportunity in their first appearance since 2019.

Washburn nearly ended the game in the first overtime, but shots from Julian Brower-Snelson and Lucas Neu hit the right post just seconds apart.

“It was two really good teams playing each other for almost 20 extra minutes, and sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce the way you want it to,” Percy said.

Both teams had excellent chances in the second half to break the scoreless deadlock.

Washburn goalkeeper Henry Johnson made a diving fingertip save to deflect a Zayan Oliyath shot wide in the 52nd minute, and a scramble off a subsequent corner kick ended with the ball trickling just wide. A Noll strike from 20 yards out was just high a few minutes later.

Then it was the Millers’ turn.

Eagan goalkeeper Zachary Roxas dove left to tip a shot away before a loose ball in the box with two Millers on the doorstep was cleared by a Wildcats defender in the 73rd minute. A redirect by Ryan Josephson off a corner kick with two minutes left was stopped by Roxas.

The Wildcats have allowed just nine goals this season.