Sioux Falls Christian’s quest for an undefeated season came to fruition on Saturday evening in Tea as the Chargers defeated St. Thomas More 2-0 in the ‘A’ boys state championship match. For Sioux Falls Christian, this is their third straight state boys’ soccer title.
“Last year, we had a team that was led by eight seniors. We have two senior captains and then we added another one, Adam Grim, so to be a younger team, be able to go the season undefeated, it’s just good work,” exclaimed Sioux Falls Christian head boys’ soccer coach Ephron Poyer. “I’m thankful to be a part of this and looking forward to continue to build a program.”
Boston Gerdes scored the first goal of the game on a corner kick with 27:20 to play in the first half. Winston Prill fielded the corner kick properly saved from Gerdes, but he was standing across the goal line when he caught it, making it a goal for the Chargers.
The match remained 1-0 through the first half. Sioux Falls Christian extended their lead to 2-0 halfway through the second half when Emerson Brazones found the back of the net. The score would hold for the final twenty minutes of play.
“We started off the game with a breakaway that we missed and then we just kept pushing the pressure on and we got a good ball in,” said senior midfielder Tark Griebel. “We got our first goal; halftime came around and we continued putting pressure on.”
For senior student athletes, it’s always fun when you can go out on top.
“It means so much. I grew up watching our team, watching them win and wanted to be there,” Griebel said. “I remember watching them lose one year at Harrisburg, and ever since then I’ve just had the heart to come out here and win. It feels amazing, it’s just so great.”
Chargers’ defender Landon Groen, also a senior, echoed Griebel’s excitement – especially with the joy of being able to complete a three-peat.
“Three is kind of the magic number that you’re aiming for,” said Groen. “It feels complete this year and it’s a good one to go out for your senior year.”
“It’s incredible, just to think about how young of a team we are, it looks good for our future,” explained coach Poyer. “One of the things we’re sticking to is not just playing good soccer, we want to raise good men who are examples. So that’s the goal of myself and my assistant Mr. (Jeremy) Roberts.”
Along with this being Sioux Falls Christian’s third straight title in boys’ soccer, it’s also their fifth as a program. The Chargers boys team won the very first sanctioned state championship back in 2012, and they also won it in 2015.
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