The Cathedral boys soccer team starts section playoff games today when they host Central Minnesota Christian at 7 p.m. at Whitney Field.  The Crusaders are unbeaten at 16-0 and have allowed just 2 goals all season.  Cathedral head coach Alex Hess and captains Jacob Plante and Elias Drong joined me on WJON to discuss how they've accomplished these amazing feats this season.

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photo courtesy of Lisa Drong
photo courtesy of Lisa Drong
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Cathedral has appeared in back to back Class A state tournaments and they are in search of a 3rd straight State Tournament trip.  Hess says they graduated 5 seniors from last year's team and knew they had some great talent returning.  As for how they have only allowed 2 goals all season... Hess explains culture and pride are the primary reasons.  He says their backline takes pride in limiting scoring opportunities and their team is defined with clean scoresheets and not a thirst for just goals.

photo courtesy of Lisa Drong
photo courtesy of Lisa Drong
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Jacob Plante says what has stood out to him the most in his time at Cathedral is how well coached he's been.  He says being able to play and beat Pine Island-Zumbrota, Mazeppa 2-0 in Chaska was memorable considering Cathedral lost to them 1-0 in the State Quarterfinals in 2022.  Elias Drong says he loved playing soccer for the past 4 years at Cathedral especially this year where it is all coming together.  He praised the coaching staff and fellow backline mates for their work on preventing goals.

The Crusaders have lost in the state tournament quarterfinals in each of the past 2 seasons but would love to close the season with an unbeaten record.  Coach Hess says they try and schedule tough non-conference opponents to push the team during the regular season and get them ready for the playoffs.  Hess says there are many teams in the section that concern him and they will not be looking past Central Minnesota Christian.

Cathedral Boys Soccer 2023 roster:

NumberNamePositionYear
0Henderson, Noah11
2O'Neal, Philip12
4Sturm, Griffin10
5Plante, Jacob12
6Drong, Elias12
7Stang, Jack11
8Oliver, Samuel9
9Stockman, Connor11
10Layne, Mason11
11Primus, Matthew11
14Oliver, Jacob10
15Wieber, Jack10
16Dukowitz, Milo11
17Calvert, Jaron11
19Hwang, Cole12
20Nystrom, Alex12
22Newiger, Blake12
23Kremer, Dominic11
27Lee, Sean11
30Jacobson, Alejandro12
32Ziemann, Jack9
99Cluever, Joseph9

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Alex Hess, Jacob Plante and Elias Drong it is available below.

 

 

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