Wayzata eliminates Eagan to advance to the Class 3A finals

Tenley Senden got things going early Tuesday morning, and Wayzata never let up.

A Class 3A Ms. Soccer finalist scored less than two minutes into the match, Alex Vellieux scored three times and the Trojans defeated Eagan 5-0 in a girls soccer semifinal at US Bank Stadium.

The top-seeded Trojans (18-1-1), who lost to Edina in last year’s championship game, will host the third-seeded Hornets in Friday’s title game at 10:15 a.m. Eagan will play East Ridge for third place on Wednesday.

Wayzata has won twelve straight games, scoring at least four goals in eleven of them and at least five goals in eight. The Trojans have outscored their opponents 100-15 this season.

“All the practicing and working together is a big factor because when a team is really close and does so many things together, it really helps the chemistry. It really helps us work together both on and off the field,” said Senden, who will play for the University of Minnesota next season.

Senden, the Trojans’ leading scorer with 24 goals, made a 60-yard run down the middle of the field, cutting to the left, and her strike from 25 yards went just 1:52 into the game.

The fourth-seeded South Suburban Conference champion Wildcats (16-4-1) struggled to find any offensive flow.

“I felt like we could have defended their defense a lot more than we did today,” coach Qassim Ilmi said.

Defenseman Ava Nayer said the Trojans’ focus was on not letting Eagan’s speedy forwards get past them. “(It was) the mentality of getting a shutout and making a statement that no team should get past Wayzata, and we are a solid back line.”

Vellieux, a sophomore midfielder, scored after scrambling from a corner in the 13th minute and redirected a pass from Lauren Craig in the 36th minute.

“After you get the first one, you get the confidence that I can get more,” said Vellieux, who had six goals in the match.

Vellieux’s centering pass was diverted by Sophie Hawkinson for a goal in the 46th minute. Hawkinson set up Vellieux to complete her hat-trick in the 63rd minute.