RECAP: Shanley Finishes Unbeaten Season with State Championship Victory Over Mandan in ND Girls Soccer
BISMARCK, N.D. (KVRR) – After three days of changing weather conditions at the North Dakota Girls Soccer State Tournament, the Shanley Deacons proved nothing could slow them down — not even championship Saturday rain showers.
Day one brought hot and sunny conditions. Day two featured wind and warmer temperatures. But when the state title was on the line Saturday, steady rain rolled through the championship match between the top teams from the EDC and WDA.
The weather did little to cool off Shanley’s offense.
The Deacons struck first in the opening half when Emma Rohrich sent a corner kick into the box that Carly Hulstein barely redirected before it found the back of the net, giving Shanley a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Rohrich added one of her own.
With Shanley still leading by one, Rohrich made a move through the defense and buried a shot to double the Deacons’ advantage with 17 minutes remaining.
Mandan tried to create opportunities late, aggressively pulling its goalie forward on corner kicks, but Shanley made the Braves pay. Annie Yablonski launched a deep shot into the open net to seal a 3-0 victory and the program’s first state championship since 2019.
The title is the third in program history for Shanley, as the Deacons completed an undefeated season in dominant fashion.
“It means so much to me,” senior Carly Hulstein said. “I’m kind of speechless right now, because this is what we’ve been working for all season, and our whole team has always believed that we could do it, but to actually do it is something completely different.
“This feeling is insane right now. They mean so much to me. They’re such an amazing group of girls, and we couldn’t have done it without every one of them. I’m super happy that they were all on this team this year, because they’re what made it happen.”
Head coach Ryan Christianson said he could feel early in the season that this group had something special.
“There’s no other feeling,” Christianson said. “Third one in program history. I was a part of the second one in 2019 as an assistant coach. Halfway through the year, I felt that specialness with this team. I kind of felt that 2019 squad.
“This team just kept going and kept going. Nothing seemed to stop them.”
A Special season for a team that never lost a game all season long. And now, the Shanley Deacons have cemented their place in North Dakota girls soccer history.
