Emerson Perrin celebrates goal in fist half with Syvanna Fowler against Grand Forks Central in Fargo, North Dakota - June, 1: Captured at Fargo Davies on Jun 01, 2023 in Fargo, North Dakota (Photo By Sean Arbaut/Arbaut Photography LLC)

FARGO – If the Minot girls’ soccer team was anxious to get their title defense started at the NDHSAA Class A State Soccer Tournament, Mother Nature didn’t help matters by delaying the game more than two and a half hours Thursday night.

Heavy rain and wind interrupted the second quarterfinal between Bismark-West Fargo Sheyenne in the second half. At times, the rain was so heavy it sent an officials’ tent and goal blowing sideways across the field.

Playing in the third quarterfinal of the afternoon, all Minot coud do was wait. According to the team’s Twitter feed, the Majettes entertained themselves during the delay with games of duck-duck-goose and other games.

When the rain finally cleared, and the preceding game finished, Minot wasted no time taking an early 1-0 lead over the Grand Forks Central Knights on an Emerson Perrin goal. The Majettes added another goal by Morgan Forthun at the 31:28 mark in the first half to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Despite the two-goal lead, Minot didn’t have that many more opportunities than Central in the first half. They were just able to capitalize on the opportunities they had, while the Knights failed to convert two free kicks.

Minot came out of halftime aggressive on offense, with multiple scoring opportunities early in the second half. After Minot sent a header wide left, Julia Lewis missed wide right at the 17:21 mark.

The Majettes would finally break through when Maicee Burke scored with 8:49 left in the game to increase their lead to 3-0.

With the win, the Majettes advance to the state semifinals, where they will play the winner of the Shanley Deacons vs. Mandan Braves game from late last night. Kickoff is at 6:45 p.m. today in Fargo.

In the other quarterfinals, Fargo Davies, the top seed from the East, defeated Jamestown 1-0, and Bismark defeated West Fargo Sheyenne by the same 1-0 score. Those two schools will face-off in the first semifinal at 4:30 p.m.

The win extends Minot’s unbeaten streak to forty-nine games. The last time the Majettes lost was in the 2019 state final.