MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A brawl erupted when Prairie Seeds Academy beat Totino-Grace 2 to 1 last Thursday. The outcome ended Totino-Grace’s season and put Prairie Seeds Academy into the state tournament. However, some players could be suspended.
The State High School League was expected to make an announcement sometime Monday, but later said they needed more time to examine that video tape before making a decision Tuesday.
When Prairie Seeds beat Totino Grace 2-1, its players rushed onto the field to celebrate. That’s when a fight broke out. The fight was captured on tape by Channel 12, which was broadcasting the game.
The broadcast does not show the first moments of the fight. It does show a Prairie Seeds player in white swinging and a Totino player in blue swinging back. The Totino player can be seen throwing the Prairie Seeds player to the ground. A Totino coach races in to pull his player off and appears to get hit by a Prairie Seeds player.
One of the clearer images at the end is a Prairie Seeds goalie kicking someone who is on the ground.
This is not the first time that Prairie Seeds has gotten off-the-field publicity. Last November, its buses were vandalized in an attack that was captured on blurry surveillance video. The attack was widely believed to be targeted at the charter school’s soccer team, which has been a dominant force in high school soccer since the school was founded in 2004.
Totino-Grace released this statement from Dean of Students Jeff Ferguson who said, “We support our boys. We are just thankful that our boys are safe. There was a lot of fear.”
Prairie Seeds Academy said they would have a statement after the State High School League makes its announcement.
There is more than just playing in the state tournament at stake. A half dozen college coaches were in the stands that night — scouting for potential recruits.
Maple Grove police say their investigation could take weeks.
