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Sports

BSM Tops SLP, Moves Into 1st

The win puts the Red Knights alone at the top of the North Suburban Conference, one game ahead of St. Louis Park.

Preparing for the defending North Suburban Conference champion and crosstown rival takes full concentration, so forgive boys soccer senior Aaron Stern if textbooks and lectures weren’t sticking at class on Tuesday.

“I could not focus in school today,” Stern said. “I was just thinking about the game. I think that was most of the team.”

Unfortunately for the Orioles, their mid-day mental walk-throughs weren’t enough to top the Red Knights at St. Louis Park Stadium. BSM used two second-half goals to pull ahead in a 2-0 win.

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The victory gave the Red Knights (11-1-1, 7-0 NSC) sole control of the conference standings. St. Louis Park (9-3-0, 6-1) dropped one game back in the standings and are tied with Spring Lake Park for second place.

BSM got a big second half from senior John Mulvahill, which propelled the Red Knights to victory. Mulvahill set up teammate Dan Lundberg for the game’s first goal with 28:56 left in the match, then added a goal of his own with 11:11 remaining in the game to secure the victory.

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Red Knights coach Dave Platt said it took his squad a half to adjust physically and mentally to Tuesday’s match, but once it did BSM began to control the tempo and held the ball deep in the Orioles’ zone.

As a result, BSM is one step closer to back-to-back North Suburban Conference titles.

“They made goals at the beginning of the year to successfully defend the conference championship,” Platt said. “Obviously, Park was the other undefeated team, so this brings us one big step closer to that.”

For Park, which finishes the season with games against Fridley, Spring Lake Park and Chisago Lakes Area, staying in in the conference hunt is still in sight.

Even though the loss was disappointing, Stern said the Orioles are prepared to bounce back.

“We’re still going to keep fighting,” Stern said. “You’re going to see a lot more from this team, and we’re going to step it up and surprise some people.”

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