18 October 2023
Park won the Class 3A, Section 3 final with a 1-0 victory over Rosemount Tuesday night.
The win comes as a bit of an upset. The two teams met earlier in the season, a meeting that resulted with Rosemount dominating and taking the victory 6-0. Rosemount came into Tuesday’s championship game with a record of 12-3-2; Park 10-7-0.
The first half was a battle of defenses, with neither team scoring before the halftime break. Both teams had a couple shots on goal in the first half — Rosemount even had a couple of attempts go off the goalposts, but neither offense could make it happen in the first 40 minutes.
The 0-0 stalemate was broken in the 47th minute when Wolfpack senior midfielder Noah Haupt scored after his own deflected penalty kick rebounded back to him. From that point forward, the Wolfpack played extremely conservatively, determined to cling to the one-goal lead. The defense-focused approach in the second half proved to be enough as the Wolfpack marched on to win.
Park coach Andrew Bourgoine said a lot has changed for the team since its first face-off with Rosemount, like getting its defense figured out and getting a new goalkeeper in net. He also said the team practiced specifically for the championship game, knowing it would have to play a specific way against an opponent who it knew would be a challenge.
“We trained for this exact moment, where we play back,” Bourgoine said. “We knew we’d eventually get our moment to attack, and we did. We got the call on the penalty kick. Then we just withstood with leadership, with the 13 seniors I have, and grit to win the game.”
With the win, Park moves on to the state tournament, its first appearance since 1994. Bourgoine said that wasn’t an expectation at the start of the season, but it’s a welcomed opportunity.
“We’re here now,” he said. “We want it now. We want to keep playing another week or two. We don’t want to stop. We want to keep winning.”
Rosemount coach Todd Farrington had emotional appraisal for his team and group of seniors, a group who’s been together since before they were in high school.
“Every year, we graduate seniors, and every year I think, ‘How are we going to replace these guys,’ ” Farrington said. “I just love every guy that’s come through this program. This is going to be a tough one to replace. I mean, they’re great players, but they’re just such great humans. And this team is so connected. I’m going to miss this group a lot, they’re such a wonderful group.”