There’s a chance Holy Angels’ senior class will never know the feeling of not playing in a state championship game. With a 4-0 win over St. Francis in the Class 2A state quarterfinals Wednesday, the No. 3-seeded Stars are one step closer to playing in their fourth title game in a row.

Their eight consecutive trips to state make up the longest active streak in girls soccer, with a 2022 state title to show for it.

The Stars’ No. 3 seed is the lowest they’ve had entering the tournament since senior midfielder Ellen Neuharth, Class 2A Ms. Soccer committed to the Gophers, joined the squad.

• State tournament brackets

That’s more than OK, she indicated. The Stars were the top seed the past two years, finishing as runner-up.

“[When] we are the No. 1 seed, you feel the pressure, like we have to win,“ Neuharth said. ”We have really good players, but at the end of the day … if we are the third seed, then you have no pressure. Just go out there and play."

The Stars (14-3-3) will face a talented team in No. 2 Blake in next Wednesday’s semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. The teams drew 1-1 in September.

Against St. Francis (14-3-3), junior forward Emma Danberry — a tough and technical forward who has “got a little bit of hockey in her,” said head coach Dave Marshak — opened and closed the Stars’ scoring.

In the 17th minute, she beat three Saints defenders before ripping a shot from the top of the 18-yard box, deflected in for her 15th goal of the season. She bagged her second goal in the final minute of the match.

“She’s not afraid. … If someone wants to play the body with her, she’s doesn’t back down from that,” Marshak said. But she also “really has the ball on a string. … I think she can kind of surprise teams a little.”

To add to the Stars’ haul, forward McKenna Vixayvong curled in a low strike in the first half, and junior outside back Claire Meyer slipped a shot near-post from a narrow angle in the second.

Vixayvong, a freshman, hasn’t yet been a part of the Stars’ title-game streak, but she’s witnessed it from the stands. Her older sister, Matigann, played in the midfield for both of the Stars’ runner-up finishes the past two seasons before going on to play soccer at Nebraska.

“[I] know how hard they play and how good we can be,” Vixayvong said. “Every year I was there [at state], hoping I’d be there one day, too.”

A Stars back line anchored by senior Ole Miss commit Addy Judson recorded its 10th shutout of the season against a Saints squad that’s “just a really good, physical team — not dirty, they just go hard," Marshak said.

St. Francis was on its third trip to the Class 2A tournament, all since 2021, and was able to disrupt some of Holy Angels’ usual possessions, forcing most of the Stars’ chances to come from long range as Neuharth dished passes in the field.

“It’s my job to show up for the people,” said Neuharth, up to 25 goals this season. “I’ve been saying all year, I want McKenna and them to experience what I got to experience my whole years at Holy Angels, and like I’m going to leave after this.

“I’m doing it for them, because I want them to experience that. It gets so much more fun the more you go into the tournament.”

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Class 2A

No. 2 Blake 5, random draw Sartell 1

Blake, three-time state champ on its first trip back to state since 2019, beat Sartell with a hat trick from junior Gophers commit Livi Abboud-Young. The Bears will face Holy Angels in the semifinals.

Class 1A

No. 4 Esko 4, No. 5 St. Croix Prep 1

Esko, making its fourth consecutive trip to state, rallied from a first-half deficit to beat St. Croix. Esko will match up against No. 1 Providence Academy in the semifinals. The squads drew 0-0 in the regular season.