GAME OF THE WEEK

Who: East Ridge vs. Woodbury boys soccer

What: Section 4AA quarterfinals

Where: Woodbury High School

When: Thursday, Oct. 11, 5 p.m.

Two teams go in, only one team comes out.

Boys soccer squads from both of Woodbury’s two high schools – East Ridge and Woodbury – square off in an elimination playoff game today at Woodbury High School.

When the fourth-seeded Royals and fifth-seeded Raptors hit the field at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11, at Woodbury High School in the Section 4AA quarterfinals, it will be the sixth meeting all-time between the intra-district and Suburban East Conference rivals.

Since East Ridge opened in 2009, Woodbury has yet to lose to the Raptors. The Royals (6-8-1; 4-4-1 SEC) hold a 5-0 advantage in the head-to-head series. Woodbury beat East Ridge twice last season, including ending the Raptors’ season with a 1-0 loss in the opening round of sections – and a 4-0 loss earlier this year.

However, while Woodbury hopes to keep its streak of dominance alive, East Ridge (9-5-2; 3-5-1 SEC) gets a shot at redemption tonight. The winner gets a shot at either top seed and No. 1-ranked North St. Paul or eight-seeded White Bear Lake in the semifinals on Saturday.

Midfielder Mitch Leonard leads the Woodbury attack. Leonard, a senior, has a team-high 21 points on 10 goals and 11 assists. Former East Ridge player, Won Suk Chung, now a senior at Woodbury, is second in scoring for the Royals with 11 points on nine goals and two assists. Other key players for Woodbury include: juniors Steven Jessen-Howard and Matt Jessen-Howard, senior midfielder Bobby Kostadinov and sophomore Ben Miller.

East Ridge is led by senior co-captain Merlin Erickson and junior co-captain Alec Tostenrud. Sophomore forward Connor Stevenson and sophomore Samuel Ruiz Plaza help lead the offensive attack. Other key players include: Senior midfielders Dalton Zilles, Steven Vang and Alec Fitts.