SAINT CLOUD — St. Cloud Tech star senior Molly Burkstrand was the only Tiger player to score in the Class 2A state tournament as both the girls and boys teams lost their quarterfinal games by multiple goals.
The girls lost 3-1 to Mankato East on Oct. 24 in Spring Lake Park and the boys lost 6-0 to Totino Grace on Oct. 23 at Monticello High School. It was the boys’ fourth-straight state appearance, but the girls made the tournament for the first time since 2001. Neither team has ever advanced past the semifinal round and had a chance for a state championship in six boys appearances and two on the girls side.
Behind a state record-setting 62 goals in 2024 Burkstrand led her team to a 15-4-1 record and Section 8-2A championship over Alexandria (12-6-1). Before the tournament she was named Class 2A Ms. Soccer, scoring her last goal with a header in the second half of the quarterfinal. But Mankato East (17-3-2) already led the game 2-0, and 14 seconds after Burkstrand’s header the Tigers (15-4-1) conceded the final goal. Finding Burkstrand was fellow all-state nominee Senior Maggie O’Hara. She leads the team in assist with 27, which is tied for most in the state.
The Cougars lost to Mahtomedi (19-2-1) in the semifinals but won third place 1-0 over Orono (12-6-2) on Wednesday. Mahtomedi won the Class 2A championship over favorite Academy of Holy Angels (20-2) .
The Tigers will be returning lots of talent next year, including junior goalkeeper Alli Day and freshman Journee Okwor, who scored 17 goals this season and had three assists. However, Tech will need to find more offense around Okwor. She, Burkstrand and O’Hara were responsible for nearly 90% of the team’s goals. The latter two are part of a group of of five seniors graduating from Tech. They were joined this season by Iris Rodriguez, Sadie Zellmann and Maddie Hagen.
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Despite having just made the 2023 state tournament, the St. Cloud Tech boys team returned just two players from last year’s varsity squad. Seniors Will Pearson and Ramadan Youssouf played midfield this season and tied for most assists on the team with classmate Musamil Abdi with five apiece. But the Tigers (8-4-7) didn’t have a standout goal scorer and the team had problems getting a clutch goal. Until the section tournament, Tech didn’t string two wins together. The Tigers finished undefeated but third in Central Lakes Conference points standings with a record of 5-0-5.
Including Abdi and Pearson, eight Tigers scored multiple goals in 2024, none more than senior Abdirahman Abdullahi’s six. Abdi tied with junior Caden Castillo-Blumke for second on the team and Pearson scored two, his last one in the Section 8-2A final over CLC winner Willmar (11-4-4).
In the state quarterfinal, Totino-Grace scored twice in the first half, one from Class 2A goal leader junior Jabari Kibisu and one by senior Tyler Michaelson, his second goal of the season. Junior Siman Geleto netted two goals in the second half and sophomore Rafel Del Toro Celis and junior Truett Dollins had a goal apiece.
The Eagles also shut out Blake (18-3-1) in the semis but lost to Academy of Holy Angels (20-1) in the Class 2A state championship Friday by a score of 3-1.
Tech has become a section powerhouse but in three consecutive state tournament appearances and five since 2018, the team has yet to win two state games on a run and make a championship appearance.
Again the Tigers will lose a majority of their senior team to graduation. There were 11 seniors on the 2024 roster, who accounted for about 60% of Tech’s goals and assists. Abdi was named to the 2024 all-state tournament team.
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Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.

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