A perennial power, and a new one; Creighton Prep boys, Gretna East girls look for another title
By Tony Chapman – For the Nebraska School Activities Association
The sprint to the finish of the Nebraska School Activities Association’s spring championships begins Monday with the 9-day run of the state soccer tournament at Creightron’s Morrison Stadium. The Class A girls will open the tournament on Monday with A boys to follow Tuesday. Class B will have first round matches on Wednesday and Thursday.
In all, the NSAA will crown 21 team champions in five sports over the next 18 days with the spring championship season concluding on May 30 at four sites during the state boys golf tournaments.
Three of the four 2024 soccer champions are back to defend their titles. Omaha Creighton Prep seeks a 12th title in school history and third in a row while the Lincoln Southwest girls will also look to defend the Class A girls title. In Class B a new champion will emerge as the Omaha Skutt Catholic boys were knocked out in Saturday’s district final round and had won five straight titles. The Gretna East girls will try for a repeat after winning a state title in their first year as a school in 2024.
Many of the Nebraska coaches feel the NSAA puts on one of the top state tournaments in the nation, at one of the nation’s best soccer facilities in Omaha.
“The setting in Omaha, downtown, is just amazing for soccer and the kids,” Gretna East girls coach Chase Hutchison said. “We hear about other states that just play their tournament on ‘tournament fields’ spread out all over with parents watching in folding lawn chairs. We have a wonderful tournament here and we are very fortunate.”
Up to date championship information will be delivered via the NSAA Soccer Championship Central page. All first round and state semifinals will be broadcast on the NFHS Network. Next Monday (girls) and Tuesday’s (boys) four championship contests will be broadcast on Nebraska Public Media.
All-Class State Tournament Bracket
CLASS A BOYS: Prep tries for history
If there is a gold standard in Class A boys soccer, it is Omaha Creighton Prep.
A state record 32 championship appearances. A state record 11 state championships. And, in 2025 the top-seed in the Class A boys tournament with a chance to win three state titles in a row; ironically, something they have never done.
Maybe part of all that success is that Prep coach Tom Hoover rarely thinks about it and is even more reluctant to chat about it.
“I just never like to talk about any of that stuff,” Hoover said prior to this year’s championship tournament. “Other people do and I know we returned a good core group of players, but, for me, if we go out and show good sportsmanship and compete as hard as we can that is what we are trying to do.”
Despite all the chatter the two-time defending champions received, they were defeated by Millard North – the tournament’s second-seed – early in the season 2-1, but avenged that loss with a 5-2 win in the Metro Conference championship game in mid-April. The Junior Jays have not allowed a goal since then and have recorded 10 shutouts on the season.
Junior Jordan Igwenma leads Class A in scoring with 25 goals on the season for Prep, but his coach insists he’s far from a one-man show on the front line. In addition, center back Brady Brakke and goalkeeper Alex Sibbernsen have led their stout defense.
“The (Chicago) Bulls weren’t just Jordan and I like to think we aren’t just our Jordan either,” Hoover said. “It’s been a real collective effort from our team all season.”
The Jays will open the tournament on Tuesday at noon when they face off with Papillion-La Vista South – a team they beat 3-1 in the regular season and in overtime in the semifinals of last year’s tournament. The winner would advance to play the winner of Omaha Westside and Lincoln Southeast.
The other side of the bracket features the second-ranked Mustangs against 14-4 South Sioux City. The Cardinals were the only team that was not a top-seed in their district to advance to Omaha. The winner of that game plays the winner of Omaha South and Lincoln Southwest.
“We truly believe any of the eight teams that have made the tournament are capable of winning the championship,” Hoover said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Connor Lodes, Omaha Creighton Prep (10 goals, 7 assists); Morgan Macke, Papillon-La Vista South (15 goals, 8 assists); Ellis Oksman, Omaha Westside (14 goals, 4 assists); Jayden Fullerton, Lincoln Southeast (10 goals, 5 assists); Connor Robbins, Millard North (18 goals, 12 assists); Gustavo Garcia-Mojica, South Sioux City (12 goals, 8 assists); Dylan Holden, Omaha South (14 goals, 4 assists); Brentyn Ebeler, Lincoln Southwest (14 goals allowed, 79 saves).
FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS (TUESDAY). At Morrison Stadium | Omaha Creighton Prep (16-1) vs. Papillon-La Vista South (12-6), 12:00 PM; Omaha Westside (11-4) vs. Lincoln Southeast (13-3), 2:00 PM; Millard North (15-2) vs. South Sioux City (14-4) 5:30 PM; Omaha South (13-2) vs. Lincoln Southwest (10-5), 7:30 PM.
CLASS B BOYS: Bennington, Hastings lead list of new champion contenders
Eastern Midlands Conference mates Bennington and Hastings staged an epic contest in their conference tournament final where the Badgers scored late for a 4-3 victory. As the top-two seeds at the Class B state tournament a finals rematch could be in the cards.
But for each team there is plenty to do first.
The Badgers (18-1) make their fifth consecutive trip to the state tournament and have a lone loss to Gretna (2-1) which was ousted by Schuyler in the district final round. Senior midfielder Austin Kaiser leads Class B with 36 goals and also has 18 assists on the season. Bennington has never won a state title.
The Hastings boys return to Omaha for the first time since 2015 and have won just two games at state in school history, both when they advanced to the 2010 state final. The front line of Jose Campos (33 goals), Johnny Pedroza (10 goals, 18 assists) and Nolan Cardona (6 goals, 19 assists) has been lethal during the season.
Both teams will play conference foes in the opening round, as Bennington has Gretna East (9-7), who they beat 4-2 in the regular season. The Griffins ousted five-time defending champion Omaha Skutt in the district final. The Tigers will get Elkhorn North in a rematch of a 4-0 contest from the regular season.
Looming in semifinals for each team could be tournament regulars Lexington and Schuyler, who faced each other in the Central Conference tournament final where the Warriors edged Lex, 2-1.
Lexington (15-4) heads to the state tournament for the 16th time in school history. Their season has ended to Skutt each of the past four years, with three of those games in the finals. The Minutemen will play Elkhorn Mt. Michael in the first round, a team they defeated 2-0 in last year’s semifinals.
Schuyler is at state for the third year in a row and 14th time in school history after losing to Bennington in the opening round last year. The Warriors (16-2) have rattled off 12 straight wins and defeated Crete – their first round opponent – 4-2 and 7-0 during the regular season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kade Olbrich, Bennington (15 goals, 10 assists); Kamden Korth, Gretna East (14 goals allowed, 78 saves); Kendrick Marroquin-Ordonez, Lexington (10 goals, 2 assists); Linden Behny, Mt. Michael Benedictine (3 goals, 16 assists); Brogan Pfeil, Hastings (7 goals allowed, 80 saves); Luke Grigsby, Elkhorn North (7 goals, 7 assists); David Arciga, Schuyler (22 goals, 4 assists); Osvin Garcia-Velasquez, Crete (10 goals, 1 assist).
FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS (THURSDAY). At Morrison Stadium | Bennington (18-1) vs. Gretna East (9-7), 12:00 PM; Lexington (15-4) vs. Mt. Michael Benedictine (11-6), 2:00 PM; Hastings (17-1) vs. Elkhorn North (12-5) 5:30 PM; Schulyer (16-2) vs. Crete (12-4), 7:30 PM.
CLASS A GIRLS: Silverhawks have eyes on repeat
Defending champion Lincoln Southwest headlines a balanced field in the Class A state girls tournament, which will have opening round play on Tuesday. The Silverhawks bring a 15-1 record to Omaha, but are undefeated in Class A with their lone loss to Class B top-seed Gretna East.
Southwest owns a 3-2 win over second-seeded Omaha Marian (14-3) from early in the season, but has not played any other teams from the Metro. They will get that chance in the opening round when they face Papillion-La Vista (10-5) at 12:00 to open the tournament on Monday.
The defending champions have Nebraska pledge Kianna Perez leading their offensive attack with 18 goals and 22 assists on the season, while on the back end goalkeeper Clara Fundus has 60 saves and has allowed just five goals on the season.
Marian and the high-powered Bellevue West offense could meet in a semifinal in the bottom half of the Class A bracket.
The Thunderbirds (18-1), who have scored over 100 goals on the season, own a pair of wins over Marian with the last being in the Metro Conference final. West is at state for the first time since 2015 after slowly climbing back up the Class A ladder under coach Alan Carr. The Thunderbolts’ Yirah Sears and Vanna Reitsma lead the state with 33 goals each this spring, with Marian’s Paige Miller, a Nebraska commit, next in line with 28.
Also returning is Kearney (16-2) who pressed Marian to a shootout in the opening round last season. The 16-2 Bearcats will play Elkhorn South in the opening round. The Storm are back at state for the first time since 2022.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Adeline Bosiljevac, Papillon-La Vista (12 goals allowed, 66 saves); Peyton Held, Lincoln Southwest (16 goals, 12 assists); Reese Holscher, Kearney (16 goals, 20 assists); Blu Keiper, Elkhorn South (12 goals, 9 assists); Kam Wray, Omaha Marian (top defender, 4 goals, 2 assists); Carly Mohatt, Millard West (10 goals, 4 assists); Laila Dvorak, Bellevue West (8 goals allowed, 126 saves); McKinley Cade, Lincoln East (24 goals, 16 assists).
FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS (MONDAY). At Morrison Stadium | Lincoln Southwest (15-1) vs. Papillon-La Vista (10-5), 12:00 PM; Kearney (16-2) vs. Elkhorn South (13-4), 2:00 PM; Omaha Marian (14-3) vs. Millard West (10-6) 5:30 PM; Bellevue West (18-1) vs. Lincoln East (12-4), 7:30 PM.
CLASS B GIRLS: Historically Talented, Griffin Girls Try to End Perfect Championship Run
Under coach Chase Hutchison, the Gretna East girls soccer program continues their path to Nebraska prep soccer history. The Griffin seniors enter this week’s state tournament with a career record of 83-1 and have uniquely won three state championships.
The first two were at Gretna High School where they went 42-0 as freshmen and sophomores and won Class A titles in 2022 and 2023. When Gretna East opened in the fall of 2023, the majority of the soccer players were in the new district. While playing a mostly Class A schedule in Class B, the Griffins finished 24-1 to win a state title.
“These seniors have just been a really special group,” said Hutchison, who was the Gretna High coach for the first two state titles. “They have always had the attitude of just doing whatever is necessary to get the job done. They enjoy the game so much, they never have taken anything for granted.
“They have been dedicated every single day.”
There is a wealth of talent on the Griffin side. In all, eight seniors have committed to play college soccer and two more juniors are committed as well. Seniors Sonora Defini (Oklahoma State) and Karli Williams (Nebraska) lead the Gretna East charge. Defini leads the team with 37 goals on the year while Williams (five goals, seven assists) is one of the state’s premier midfielders.
East is one of four Eastern Midlands Conference teams in the tournament and will face one of them – Elkhorn – in Wednesday’s opener. However, that game was a long time ago in the first game of the season for both teams which turned into a 4-0 win for Gretna East.
While the Griffins may be prohibitive favorites, they must play the games and they have been pushed on a few occasions this season including a 4-3 win over Blair in mid-April. They also own a 3-1 win over third-seeded Lincoln Pius, which advanced to the Class A state title game a season ago.
“Most of our kids spend nine months away from our program playing soccer in other places,” Hutchison said. “So these three months are really important to us to be able to play for our community. We hit a spot about 2 ½ weeks ago where we really started playing well both offensive and defensively.”
Blair will play Skutt in the first round on the top side of the bracket. Bear freshman Cadence Field, who has 30 goals on the season, is one of the top young players in the state, while Skutt has Omaha commit Presley Douglas as one of Class B’s top defenders.
The bottom side features unbeaten Scotus Central Catholic against Norris, who has played 12-2 soccer since an 0-3 start. South Dakota State signee Emma Brezenski has 48 goals on the season for the Shamrocks. The final quarterfinal is Pius (12-3) and Omaha Mercy (13-4). Pius defeated Scotus on April 29, but was forced to forfeit the game after it was determined they used a player who was ineligible to play.
“The way our format is set up, the very best teams in the state are in this tournament,” Hutchison said. “Nothing is easy going forward. You can’t have an off day. And, at this point, what seed you are doesn’t really matter.”
OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH: Adriana Pagan, Elkhorn (16 goals, 8 assists); Kendall Dobberstein, Gretna East (20 goals, 22 assists); Alison Hegarty-Reba, Omaha Mercy (137 saves); Grace Scheer, Omaha Skutt (10 goals allowed, 56 saves); Brynn Ray, Blair (23 goals, 11 assists); Ella Klein, Norris (17 goals, 10 assists); Mia Fehringer, Scotus (18 goals, 13 assists); Tatum Heimes, Pius (6 goals, 10 assists).
FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS (WEDNESDAY). At Morrison Stadium | Gretna East (17-0) vs. Elkhorn (10-7), 12:00 PM; Omaha Skutt Catholic (14-4) vs. Blair (15-2), 2:00 PM; Scotus Central Catholic (16-0) vs. Norris (12-5) 5:30 PM; Lincoln Pius (12-3) vs. Omaha Mercy (13-4), 7:30 PM.
Tony Chapman is a freelance writer based in Grand Island. He has written for multiple Nebraska daily and weekly newspapers. His weekly Harvest Sports Newsletter covers a wide variety of Nebraska prep sports.