St. Paul Academy defeats Rochester Lourdes, wins its third boys soccer state championship in a row

St. Paul Academy won its third consecutive Class 1A boys soccer state title with disciplined defending and a disciplined Halloween.

Coach Max Lipset told the boys they could eat fast food and candy once they won another ring. Senior midfielder Ezra Straub was eyeing McDonald’s after the game, and it was well-deserved.

His two goals gave No. 1 St. Paul Academy its third consecutive state title with a 2-0 victory over No. 3 Rochester Lourdes. The Spartans (17-3-1) became just the second boys soccer team to three-peat in Minnesota, after Edina (1999-2001).

“Every year, we’ve just gotten better and better,” Straub said. “At the start of the season, some of us didn’t believe we could get here. It was having faith and discipline.”

Straub scored his brace 48 seconds apart with a half-hour left in Friday’s match at U.S. Bank Stadium. The first goal came off a corner delivered by freshman Graham Waibel, knocked home by Straub in a crowded 6-yard box.

“A garbage goal,” the players called it after, grinning. The second goal was anything but: a highlight-worthy 25-yard free kick Straub curled inside the near post.

The high-flying Rochester Lourdes offense — averaging 3.73 goals per game — was painfully familiar to the Spartans. They’d seen Eagles sophomore phenom Blake Moynagh net two of his season’s 32 goals when Rochester Lourdes beat the Spartans 3-1 in September.

The midseason loss forced the Spartans (17-4-1) to re-evaluate. Head coach Max Lipset gathered the varsity returners and asked them, “What do we want from this season?”

“It was a big turning point for us,” Lipset said. “Made roster changes, made formation changes. We made changes to our expectations.”

They leaned on the defensive mind and quick in-training corrections of local soccer figurehead Manny “Buzz” Lagos, part of all of the Spartans’ now seven titles. The prior four spanned 1986 to 1994.

“It’s a whole team movement,” senior defender Arlo Zirps said. “Every single person on the team is getting back and defending.”

After that loss, the Spartans only conceded eight goals in 12 games. On Friday, St. Paul Academy often dropped nine, 10 or all 11 players behind the Eagles attack, making Rochester Lourdes’ offense look quieter than the Spartans’ Halloween night.