Tech Tigers Set To Begin State Tournament Run Thursday

The unseeded Tech Tiger boys soccer team will take on third-seeded St. Paul Central Thursday night at St. Cloud State University in the Class AA State Tournament quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Coach Nantha Viswanathan says it was a pleasant surprise to find out his team would be playing on their home turf despite not being seeded.

"It's a big plus for us to play on that field, because the boys are used to it," Viswanathan said. "It's a bigger field than normal high school fields, and we are very comfortable playing on that field."

The players are hoping for a big crowd for Thursday night's game at SCSU after a large crowd showed up to cheer them on in their section final win against Maple Grove last week.

"I hope that (the crowd) is the same as the section final," junior Drake Jett said. "That's the most people I've ever seen there, and it would mean a lot of that many people showed up again."

"We get a lot of support," sophomore Abdisahal Elmi said at a recent practice. "The school is very happy about (us being in state)."

"I'm very pumped up and so are the kids," Viswanathan said. "We are excited to be in the state tournament, and this will be the third year we are in the tournament."

Junior Sam Putz says that it's nice to see all the hard work they put in over the summer pay off with this trip to the tourney.

"The grind we have been putting on since the beginning of the summer, we've gained so many friendships and if feels amazing to get out of it what we have put in," Putz said.