The #9 (2A) AP/DNH boys soccer team will begin its playoff journey by hosting Hampton-Dumont-CAL for a 2A Substate 2 semifinal Tuesday in New Hartford. It’ll air on 99 The Wave.
The United (10-3-1) used a strong regular season to earn the 2-seed in the bracket and a first round bye. It’s been over a week since their regular season finale, a 4-3 win over Denver. After falling a game short of the state tournament last season, Head Coach Perry Bernard has great confidence in this team’s potential.
“We have a deep team,” Bernard says. “I’m very happy with how they’re playing. When we do fire on all cylinders, they’re a lot of fun to watch. So we’re going to take what we get and we’re going to go after it. Ithink this year is our opportunity to definitely get to state.”
Aiden Merrill led the team with 18 goals in the regular season, the second-most in the NICL.
Hampton-Dumont-CAL (10-3-3) is coming off a 7-1 win over Charles City in last week’s first round game, where Fernando Mota scored five goals and became the program’s all-time leading scorer. The offense has been on fire, with nine goals in the previous game to end the regular season. Head Coach Danielle Arana on keys to postseason success.
“Sometimes we play different depending on the competition,” Arana says. “And so just staying consistent, I think, is something that we struggle with. And so we’ve had good success this season. Just staying consistent with the momentum that we had coming off of this game, working on those practices. But I think just staying consistent and really working hard. And no matter how the other team is playing, we are playing our best game. And I think that’s something that as long as we could pull through with that, then we can head to that third game.”
Coverage will start at 6:50 p.m., followed by the kickoff at 7:00. The winner will advance to Thursday’s substate final against either Decorah or undefeated and untied Webster City.
