Gretna East’s Lily Fredrick (21) and Lincoln Southwest’s Ainsley Roeder track the ball during their matchup at Lincoln High School on April 7, 2025. (Photo/Fisher Madsen)
The girls soccer powerhouse Gretna East Griffins wanted a challenge. The young program has already experienced unprecedented levels of success. Last year, the Griffins played a primarily Class A schedule, finished with a record of 21-1, and outscored opponents 132-19 en route to a Class B state championship. This season, East started on a six-game win streak on a 36-2 scoring differential.
Another team that are no strangers to success are the Lincoln Southwest Silverhawks. Last season, the Silverhawks dominated Class A, going 18-1 against the best the state had to offer and winning the state championship. However, this year the Class B Griffins showed that class doesn’t matter, beating Southwest 1-0 Monday evening.
“Lincoln Southwest is very athletic, very confidant, and a veteran team,” Hutchinson said. “We told the girls before the game, ‘tactics are gonna play a part, but we said it’s gonna be a small part in how this game’s decided, and it’s all about your guy’s attitude and your will,’ and they were able to grind out a 1-0, we got the goal we needed and then a fantastic defensive effort.”
It’s been clear that few teams can pose a threat to the Griffins, which is why coach Chace Hutchinson made it a point to schedule a match against reigning Class A champs.
“We get four games we get to choose,” Hutchinson said. “We wanted what we felt were the four teams that would push us and make us feel challenged and would make us grow, and this is exactly the game when we schedule them that we’re hoping for. We wanted teams that would push us.”
Gretna East’s Sonora De Fini (10) and Southwest’s Kira Schafer (20) chase the ball during their matchup at Lincoln High School on April 7, 2025. (Photo/Fisher Madsen)
Neither team found the net in the first half. Seven minutes into the second half, Kendall Dobberstien found Sonora De Fini on a corner kick for the goal, which won the Griffins the game.
“Kendall um is one of the best corner kick takers that I’ve ever seen,” Hutchinson said. “She puts it (so it’s) predictable for the offense, but she does a curve on it that is incredibly hard to time for the goalkeeper.”
That wasn’t the first Dobberstien – De Fini corner kick, as the two are teammates on the Gretna Elite Academy club team. Dobberstien said that several Lincoln Southwest athletes play on her club team as well.
“To be able to play against a great team and end up coming out with a 1-0 win, it makes us feel confident for the next games coming ahead of us in the state championship,” Dobberstien said.
Lincoln Southwest will look to build off what they learned by facing Gretna East.
“I think we were humbled to be perfectly honest,” Southwest coach Thomas Nettleton said. “I feel like couldn’t find our shape and that’s credit to their midfield. Usually, our midfield is dominant and it has been every game this season. Everybody we have played, we have been the dominant midfield, and today that flipped.”
However, Nettleton said that the result was “nothing to panic about.”
Despite the result not tipping in their favor, and that the two teams won’t face off in the postseason due to class differences, Nettleton said the loss was a valuable experience.
“We probably learned what we needed to learn about our team in order to be stronger in May,” Nettleton said, “I think it’s good for kids, honestly. We have we have a roster full of players that want to play the next level, so you wanna play the best. We’ve done that in our schedule for the last 10 years.”
East’s Kendall Dobberstien (12) taps the ball while defended by Southwest’s Molly Riggins (7) during their matchup at Lincoln High School on April 7, 2025. (Photo/Fisher Madsen)
Hutchinson credited Nettleton and the Silverhawks, saying that Southwest took a risk in losing points to a Class B school, saying that “Not every Class A team is willing to play down to Class B.”
The matchup took at Lincoln High School, Nettleton’s alma mater.
Looking ahead, Gretna East will face undefeated Blair on April 14. Meanwhile, Southwest will travel to undefeated Kearney on the 9th.
Fisher Madsen is a contributor for Nebraska Soccer Talk, currently studying Sports Media at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
