The SPA girls’ soccer team capped off another remarkable postseason run in championship fashion, winning the Class 1A Minnesota State title in a 3-0 victory against St. Charles on Friday, November 3, 2023 at U.S. Bank Stadium. This is the Spartans’ first State title and second consecutive trip to the championship game after finishing as runner-up last year.

You can find the full State Tournament story here.

The road to the State championship was built on the Spartans’ high-powered offense and stingy defense, which were on peak display throughout the entire postseason. Seeded #3 in Section 3A, the team sailed through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, defeating Trinity 2-0 in the quarterfinals and Visitation 2-0 in the semifinals and earning the right to face off against IMAC rival Minnehaha Academy for a trip to State. The Spartans 3-2 victory in the Section final represented both their ticket to State and their first victory over the Redhawks this season. 

It was a historic year for the program. Overall, Sawyer Bollinger Danielson led the Spartans with 23 goals and 9 assists on the year; Clare Ryan Bradley scored 13 goals, Lucia Gonzalez ’26 contributed 6 assists, and Tuttle added 8 goals. Other individual accolades for the team included:

All-State: Sawyer Bollinger-Danielson ‘25 and Annie Zhang ‘25 

All-Conference: Sawyer Bollinger-Danielson ‘25 and Annie Zhang ‘25 

All-Conference Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Tuttle ‘26, Clare Ryan Bradley ‘26, & Lucia Gonzalez ‘26

All-Metro Second Team: Sawyer Bollinger Danielson ’25

MSHSL All-Tournament Team: Sawyer Bollinger Danielson ’25, Clare Ryan Bradley ‘26, Elizabeth Tuttle ‘26 and Annie Zhang ‘25

2023 Captains: Annie Zhang ‘25, Annika Lillegard ‘24, and Aurelia Meza ‘23

For the first time since 2004, the girls’ soccer team advanced to the State Tournament Championship game where they finished runner-up after a close 3-2 loss to St. Anthony Village. This was the first time that the team reached the State Tournament since 2016. 

The Championship game was a hard-fought match against a tough St. Anthony team, which got on the board only 105 seconds into the first half and then twice again in the second half. The Spartans never gave up the entire game, cutting the lead to within one on two separate occasions. The Spartans’ first goal came from Sawyer Bollinger Danielson ’25 in the 56th minute to cut the lead to 2-1; later, Maryeva Gonzalez ’23 made it 3-2 with less than 11 minutes remaining in regulation. “We went out fighting,” said senior goalie Lindsay Browne ’23 of her team’s performance.

After finishing the regular season with a solid 6-5-3 overall record, SPA dialed up the intensity in the postseason under first-year Head Coach Aileen Guiney. In Section 3A competition, the #2-seeded Spartans defeated Hiawatha Collegiate 8-0 in the quarterfinals and St. Croix Lutheran Academy 2-0 in the semifinals, advancing to the finals against rival Minnehaha Academy. The Spartans, who were beaten twice by the Redhawks in the regular season, were looking for redemption in the section championship and got it, beating Minnehaha 1-0 and advancing to the State Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium for the first time since 2016.

At State, SPA received the #3 seed and advanced to the title game after defeating St. Charles 1-0 in the opening round and IMAC rival Breck in an intense double-overtime game that eventually went to penalty kicks, with SPA outshooting the Mustangs 3-1 to punch their ticket to the championship match.

All-State: Sawyer Bollinger-Danielson ‘25 and Annie Zhang ‘25 

All-Conference: Sawyer Bollinger-Danielson ‘25 and Annie Zhang ‘25 

All-Conference Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Tuttle ‘26, Clare Ryan Bradley ‘26, & Lucia Gonzalez ‘26

MSHSL All-Tournament Team: Andrea Gist ‘23, Sawyer Bollinger-Danielson ‘25, Annie Zhang ‘25, Elizabeth Tuttle ‘26

Captains: Lindsay Browne ‘23, Heidi Deuel and ‘23, Maryeva Gonzalez ‘23