Sports Roundup: Skippers, Royals Soccer Squads Commence Sectional Playoffs

The sectional playoffs began for both the Minnetonka and Hopkins soccer teams on Thursday. While the opening reports were favorable for both the Skippers and Royals boys, the news was not nearly as good for the boys.

Girls Soccer

Minnetonka and Hopkins both won their quarterfinal matchups in the Section 6AA Tournament, with the second-seeded Skippers topping No. 7 seed Robbinsdale Armstrong and the third-seeded Royals besting No. 6 Minneapolis Southwest by identical scores of 4-0.

The Skippers and Royals will face each other in the semifinal round at 1 p.m. Saturday at Minnetonka High School. The victor will play in the sectional final next Tuesday.

Boys Soccer

The 2011 campaign came to a close for both the Minnetonka and Hopkins boys soccer squads as the seventh-seeded Skippers fell 2-0 at No. 2 Edina in the Section 2AA Tournament and the sixth-seeded Royals lost 3-0 at No. 3 Southwest in the 6AA playoffs.

Minnetonka and Hopkins both conclude their seasons with 4-10-3 records.

Cross-Country Running

The Hopkins and Minnetonka cross-country running teams competed in the Lake Conference Championship Meet on Thursday at Gale Woods Farm, with the Royals finishing fourth and the Skippers fifth, in both boys and girls competitions.

Lucy Hoelscher led the Minnetonka girls with a third-place finish of 15 minutes, 12.1 seconds, with Kyle Anderson topping the Skippers boys with a fifth-place run of 16:19.1.

The Hopkins boys were led by John Klecker's fourth-place run of 16:15.1, while the Royals girls were paced by Mary Kleckner's third-place finish of 15:12.1.

Volleyball

The Hopkins volleyball team won its first Lake Conference match of the season, winning 3-2 at Edina to improve to 10-13 overall and 1-6 in the circuit.

Minnetonka volleyball did not play on Thursday and will close out its regular season at Wayzata next Tuesday as the Royals conclude their pre-playoff slate versus visiting Eden Prairie.