All-state soccer: Meet the 2023 boys first-team Super-Staters
Think star power ... and then some. This group can do it all, as they showed throughout another exciting boys soccer season.
(๐ด๐ญ) ๐ฑ๐ฌ๐น๐ฌ๐ด๐ฐ๐จ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ป๐ฌ๐ฏ, ๐ถ๐ด๐จ๐ฏ๐จ ๐พ๐ฌ๐บ๐ป๐บ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฌ
The resume:ย He was key for Omaha Westside, scoring the game-winning goal in six of the Warriorsโ 10 wins for the season. He broke a 25-year-old school record for goals in a match with five against Omaha Westview. His 21 goals accounted for about 50% of the Warriorsโ goals this season.
Defining moments:ย โHeโs a goal machine from the attacking midfield position. Heโs extremely dangerous on the dribble, can strike from distance from beyond the 18-yard box and can finish anything with one touch.โย โ Omaha Westside coach Mike Dean.
(๐ญ) ๐ณ๐จ๐ต๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐บ๐ฌ, ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐บ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฏ๐พ๐ฌ๐บ๐ป
Year:ย Senior.
The resume:ย The Concordia soccer commit set the school record for goals in a season with 21, including nine game-winning goals. Kruse had an assist or goal in 15 of the Silver Hawks' 18 matches.
Defining moments:ย โWe were knotted 2-2 with Lincoln Southeast in the HAC tournament semifinal. We had a good chat during the intermission and 90 seconds into the second half, Lane received a ball down the line. He fended off two defenders โ dribbling approximately 60 yards โ cut in on his weaker left foot and drilled a shot into the bottom left corner. We went on to win the match 5-2. That run and finish was pure class.โ โย Lincoln Southwest coach Derek Scheich.
(๐ญ) ๐ช๐ถ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐จ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฌ, ๐ท๐จ๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต-๐ณ๐จ ๐ฝ๐ฐ๐บ๐ป๐จ ๐บ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฏ
Year:ย Senior.
The resume:ย Mackeโs school-record 22 goals led Class A. When defenses upped the pressure, he dished for 15 assists, a key in the Titans reaching the state semifinals for the first time in 11 years.
Defining moments:ย โIn the Metro Tournament, he knew he had to involve his teammates more and had two goals and five assists on his way to earning player of the tourney and securing just our second Metro championship in school history.โ โย Papillion-La Vista South coach Dave Lawrence
(๐ญ) ๐จ๐๐ถ ๐ด๐จ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ต๐ต๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ต
Year:ย Senior.
The resume:ย Makinde is a threat to score or assist on a goal every time he gets the ball. His 40 goals ranked in the top 10 nationally, and he also had 12 assists. He had three hat tricks.
Defining moments:ย โWe were down by a goal at halftime against Elkhorn North in an away game. Ayo shook off the mounting frustrations and found the game-winner in the second half. He calmly received the ball in traffic, beat his defender, and then placed it across the face of the goal, beating the keeper with a well-placed shot.โ โย Bennington coach Nick Nyman.
(๐ญ) ๐ด๐จ๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฐ๐น๐ฌ ๐ท๐ฌ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐บ, ๐ฎ๐น๐ฌ๐ป๐ต๐จ
Year:ย Junior.
The resume:ย Perkins led the Class A state runner-ups with 19 goals and eight assists. That gives him a remarkable 44 goals and 18 assists over the past two seasons. Heโs being recruited by several NCAA Division I programs.
Defining moments:ย โMaguire is a natural goal scorer. There are many things you can coach, but his ability to read the game and be in the right place is something you cannot.โ โย Gretna coach Tyler Ortlieb.
(๐ญ) ๐ด๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฌ๐ณ ๐บ๐ป๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ต๐ฏ๐ถ๐ณ๐ป๐, ๐ฎ๐น๐ฌ๐ป๐ต๐จ
Year:ย Junior.
The resume:ย He had 18 goals and 14 assists, including three goals and two assists at the state tournament. Heโs committed to UNO.
Defining moments:ย โThe defining moment for Mikey was the Metro quarterfinals against Creighton Prep; he was able to make something out of nothing beating two Prep players and finding Maguire Perkins back post to make it 1-1.โ โย Gretna coach Tyler Ortlieb.
(๐ด๐ญ) ๐ฉ๐น๐ฌ๐ป๐ป ๐ท๐ฌ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐บ, ๐ฎ๐น๐ฌ๐ป๐ต๐จ
Year:ย Senior.
The resume:ย He was key in the Dragonsโ two wins at the state tournament, and ended the season with nine goals and 13 assists.
Defining moments:ย โWhat Brett does is control a game. His style of play is calm, cool and collected. He has been the spine of Gretna soccer for the past three years, and when Brett is on the field, there is a sense of relief.โ โย Gretna coach Tyler Ortlieb.
(๐ซ) ๐ป๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ป๐ผ๐ด๐ท๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฌ๐จ๐บ๐ป
Year:ย Senior.
The resume:ย Stumpff helped Lincoln East make a late-season surge to reach the state tournament with a 9-7 record. On numerous occasions, he made a stop on defense that shifted the momentum back to the Spartans.
Defining moments:ย โIn a shootout win against Millard West in the district semifinal he showed the composure to score the PK. And then he plays a 40-yard diagonal pass for Diego Reyes-Barbosa to run onto and score that epic last-minute goal.โ โย East coach Colin Smitsek.
(๐ซ) ๐พ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ป๐ถ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ต, ๐ถ๐ด๐จ๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ป
Year:ย Senior.
The resume:ย He had an impressive eight assists from the left back position while helping Omaha Skutt win the Class B state championship.
Defining moments:ย โAt the state tournament, on the biggest high school stage, he was a lockdown defender and got forward in the attack to create numerous opportunities for our team.โ โย Omaha Skutt coach Justin Zabawa.
(๐ฎ๐ฒ) ๐ซ๐๐ณ๐จ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐น๐ด๐จ๐ต๐ต, ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐บ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฏ๐พ๐ฌ๐บ๐ป
Year:ย Junior.
The resume:ย He helped Southwest to a 14-4 record and a state semifinal appearance. His 15 career shutouts already rank fourth in program history.
Defining moments:ย โIn our first match against Lincoln East he picked up a minor injury and was hobbling a bit. East won a corner and the ball was put into the box and fell to the head of Aidan Nachi who flicked it onto goal at point-blank range. Dylan was able to react and palmed the ball over the bar to maintain his clean sheet. We went on to win 3-0.โ โย Lincoln Southwest coach Derek Scheich.
For the first time in at least 20 years, the Journal Star's Super-State captains are from the same school. Brent C. Wagner has more.
Here's a look at the best of the best from the soccer pitch in 2023.
Gretna swept theย Gatorade player of the year awards for high school soccer.