With the wind at its back the top-seeded St. Thomas More/Rapid City Christian girls soccer team ran away from Groton, 4-1, Friday to advance to the Class A state championship game.

The Cavaliers found themselves tied at 1-1 at halftime after having to battle a cold wind, but the offense opened up in the second half.

Sophia Scull scored the eventual game-winner early in the second half with a long shot that found the back of the net. Lauren Jaeger added the next goal as Groton was unable to clear the ball and Jaeger took advantage. Julia Nichols recorded the Caviliers' final goal.

"Maria Gonzalez was double- and triple-teamed most of the match," Cavaliers head coach Doug Noyes said. "That opened up opportunities for other girls and they stepped into the void, which was awesome."

Alli Gorder scored STM/RCCh's first goal of the game after Groton scored first in the 19th minute.

"It was cold and it was sloppy in front of our goal in the first half, but the girls kept playing their game," Noyes said.

Groton did not have a shot on goal in the second half.

The Cavaliers (10-0-2) will see a familiar opponent in the championship game today at 4:30 p.m. as they face Harrisburg. STM/RCCh beat Harrisburg to win the title last year and also downed it 7-3 earlier this season.

PIERRE 2, RAPID CITY STEVENS 1: Pierre knocked off the second-seeded Rapid City Stevens girls' soccer team 2-1 in the semifinals of the Class AA soccer tournament in Aberdeen on Friday.

Pierre took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Yutzil Rodriguez in the 70th minute, when an errant Stevens goal kick basically handed Rodriguez the goal, before packing in the defense and getting the win.

"Pierre's coach did a great job of organizing his team and their defense really stepped it up," Stevens head coach Troy Anderson said. "They put a lot of pressure on our strikers all game long."

The Governors scored on a deep shot early in the game when the ball bounced near the top of the penalty box and carried into the top corner of the goal.

"It was kind of a fluky goal," Stevens head coach Troy Anderson said. "It probably wouldn't have happened in normal weather conditions, but that's the way it goes sometimes."

The Raiders (12-3) out-shot the Governors 27-7 on the day, but only scored on a Megan Anderson foray in the 47th minute.

"You have to give the Pierre goalkeeper a lot of credit," Anderson said. "She did a great job all day. We had some opportunities but just couldn't capitalize on them."

The Raiders will get a chance to play the team they were looking forward to playing, top-seeded Sioux Falls Washington, which was upset by Sioux Falls O'Gorman on penalty kicks.

"We get the chance to play the team we wanted to play," Anderson said. "It's not exactly how we wanted to finish, but the girls have had a great season and we get to finish it up with a great rematch."

The Raiders will kick off against Washington (14-1) at 11:30 a.m. today.

BELLE FOURCHE 2, STURGIS 0: After dropping a heartbreaker in overtime on Thursday, Belle Fourche was able to bounce back Friday against Sturgis, 2-0.

After a scoreless first half, Belle Fourche's Coree Kissack and Jordan Schmautz added the two goals necessary to win. Goalie McKenin Hauck was credited with the shutout.

"It was a very slow-paced, not getting anything done game," Belle Fourche head coach Cindy Goeringer said about the game, played in cold temperatures on Friday morning. "We had more shots on goal than they did, but they have a pretty good goalie.

"It was really, really cold. Everybody's cold, everybody's numb. I'm glad we played this morning. It's not good weather. It hardly ever is at state tournament time."

Next up for Belle Fourche is Sioux Falls Christian at 9 a.m. today in the fifth-place game. Christian came into the tournament with one win, but with the adverse weather, a win is not guaranteed for Belle Fourche.

"The scores are just all over the board," Goeringer said. "You cannot tell who is going to win anymore."

BOYS SOCCER

FREEMAN ACADEMY 4, STURGIS 1: In deteriorating weather conditions, No. 3 Freeman Academy was able to upset Sturgis at the state Class A boys soccer tournament at Moccasin Creek Soccer Complex in Aberdeen.

With the temperature at 42 degrees, the wind at 15 to 20 mph and some rain, the players had to deal with an inch of standing water on about two-thirds of the field.

"It definitely made it hard to get into your game," said Sturgis coach Booj Mumm. "But the other team had to deal with that also."

After an early goal by Luke Erfman, the game was tied at 1-1 until about the 75th minute, late in the game. Freeman Academy (11-3-1) then added a goal.

"At that point, we had the decision to go home with a 2-1 loss or go on the attack," Mumm said. "You either live by that or die by that."

Freeman Academy added two more goals to advance to the championship game against top-seed Sioux Falls Christian.

No. 2 Sturgis (13-2-0) will play in the third-place game at 11:30 a.m. today against James Valley Christian.

Because of the weather, the team does not know what field they will play on. Tournament officials are making field decisions on an hourly basis.

"We have the opportunity to get back on the field tomorrow and do our best to go home winners tomorrow," Mumm said. "I really feel good about these guys, I think they will be there."

CUSTER 4, VERMILLION 0: Travis March, Maree Fleming and Jake Roddy each had a goal and an assist to lead Custer to a 4-0 consolation bracket win over Vermillion on Friday in state boys soccer in Aberdeen.

The Wildcats (10-4-1 overall) will face Harrisburg for fifth place today.

"The kids defended very well and did a good job," Custer head coach Craig Black said. "We were able to limit the type of shots allowed today."

Tyler Young also scored for the Wildcats.

Rapid City Stevens 3, Sioux Falls Roosevelt 2: Rapid City Stevens on goals by Aaron Foss, Barry Vargo and Zak Prpich advanced to the boys AA championship game by defeating the Roughriders in a semifinal game on Friday in Aberdeen.

Albin Sumic and Austin Brynjulson scored the Roosevelt goals.

Tom Schleusener was the Raider goalkeeper.

Stevens will square off with No. 1 ranked Sioux Falls Lincoln today at 3:30 p.m. MDT for the AA title.

The Raiders are now 6-6-2 on the season while the Patriots are 13-0-1.

No other information was available at the Journal's deadline.