No. 1 Gretna girls soccer has sights set on Nebraska state title
GRETNA, Neb. (BVM) — The 22-month wait wasn’t easy for the Gretna girls soccer team.
On May 11, 2019, the Dragons suffered a gut-wrenching loss to Omaha Marian in the Class A state semifinals match after four of their players were lost to injuries. A month later, the program suffered a real loss when Addisyn Pfeiffer, who would’ve been a senior on this year’s team, was killed in a car accident. Then Gretna lost its 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were very confident going into last season so it was tough not having a season,” Gretna head coach Digger Hawkins said. “Losing a player in a car accident, that made it even tougher not to have a season. … It’s definitely good to be back on the field for sure.”
The Dragons honored Pfeiffer during a match last week, and they’ve been doing the best possible job of honoring her with their dominant performance on the pitch since their season began in March. Gretna is ranked No. 1 in the state with a perfect 14-0 record and has outscored its opponents 108-4. Earlier this month, the Dragons also secured the Metro Conference title in their first year in the conference, and there doesn’t appear to be any way of stopping them from making a serious run at their first state title since 2014.
“We take each game as it comes,” Hawkins said. “You can’t overlook anyone in Class A. … We’ve just got to keep it going.”
It’s certainly clear that opponents have yet to find a way to stop star senior Sarah Weber, the reigning Gatorade Nebraska Girls Soccer Player of the Year. The future Cornhusker has 29 goals in 14 matches after netting 52 goals through her first two high school seasons. But even if opponents find a way to somewhat neutralize Weber, the Dragons have no shortage of other scoring options. Seventeen other players have goals for Gretna this season.
“I’ve always said we’re more than one player,” Hawkins said, “and if people want to pay close attention to Sarah that’s fine because we’ve certainly got other players that can do the job.”
That makes the Dragons even more dangerous. And considering how close they’ve been to reaching the title in recent years, they’re even more driven to reach the ultimate goal of a state championship. Since winning it all in 2014, Gretna has finished as the state runner-up twice (in 2015 and 2016) and lost in the state quarterfinals twice (in 2017 in 2018) before losing in the 2019 state semifinals.
By the time the state tournament rolls around next month, it will have been two full years since their last championship opportunity slipped away. But the long wait could pay off in a big way for the Dragons.
“If you look too far down the road you could get turned over,” Hawkins said. “We’ve just got to take each game as it comes. It was great to win Metro, but we know there are some tough teams in Class A. We just can’t overlook anyone.”
