The boys’ soccer team (14–1–1) crushed Walter Johnson (8–5) 3–0 on Friday night. 

The Vikes started their playoff run with a very tough opponent ahead of them. The Vikes’ only loss during the regular season came from the Wildcats midway through their almost undefeated season. This game would serve as a revenge game for the Vikes who were looking to avenge their only loss.

The game started well for the Vikes with great movement on offense. The Vikes kept the ball out of their own territory very well and moved it around nicely, making sure to keep the ball upfield, pressuring the Wildcats’ defense. While the Vikings were able to maintain possession for a while, the Wildcats answered with a pressure of their own. They pressured high on the Vikes defense and got to anyone who had the ball in the middle of the field, but the Vikes were still able to move around them. Senior Sean Curran got a few chances with his head at the beginning of the game, but all of them were saved by the wildcats. 

Towards the end of the first half, the Wildcats started to tire out and stopped pressuring as aggressively as the Vikes were moving the ball around too much. Because of this, junior Endric Lotsch got a chance on the wing, cutting in the middle of the field to a bouncing ball, and hitting it with his head into the goal just before their goalie could save it. The Vikes would go into halftime with great momentum from their recent goal. 

At the beginning of the second half, Lotsch received the ball again and dribbled through the wildcats’ defenders, going towards the middle of the field, and hit the ball with his left foot outside of the box to the bottom left corner for a score. 

Ten to 15 minutes later, Curran got the ball on the wing with Lotsch making a run through the middle. Curran played a through ball to him into the box and Lotsch shot it, megging the goalie and gaining a hattrick for himself. 

The Vikes played out the rest of the final minutes solid on both offense and defense, closing out the Wildcats, and avenging their only loss on the season.

The Vikes will play again on Tuesday night against the Churchill Bulldogs at home in the regional finals.