MADSEN – Predicting the Next Three Years of Nebraska Soccer Champions

Omaha Westside won the 2025 NSAA Class A Boys soccer championship in May 2025. Photo/Fisher Madsen

While we wait eight more months for the start of next high school soccer season, I thought it would be fun to predict the next three champions for each class. For these predictions, the self-imposed rules are that I can’t pick the same team twice. Before I start, these predictions are my own and don’t necessarily match up with the predictions of my NEST teammates, and that I’m assuming rosters and coaches stay the same for the next three years (which they most certainly won’t, but oh well). 

Note –stats listed are from the 2025 season and do not include those from the 2025 State Tournament

CLASS A BOYS

2026 – Creighton Prep

Head coach Tom Hoover and I chatted multiple times about how hard it was to keep high-school aged boys focused and motivated. After a loss to rival Omaha Westside knocked the top-seeded Junior Jays out of the state tournament, I doubt coach Hoover will have a hard time keeping his team motivated next season. Featured on this side yet again will be Jordan Igwenma (25 goals, 12 assists), now with a Gatorade Player of the Year award in his back pocket. While Prep lost a whopping 13 seniors, they also return other key contributors, such as Connor Lodes (10 g, 7 a), Jacob Szatko (4 g, 2 a), and Jude Van Bell (3 g, 3 a). While the Junior Jays have key positions to fill, one thing they never lack is talent, and now they’ll have a massive chip on their shoulder. Prep will likely dominate again, but this time, they won’t fall short at Morrison.

2027 – Lincoln Southwest

By 2027, current Southwest standout Miguel Solano will be graduated, as will a majority of their current roster. However, the Silverhawks are a perennial soccer powerhouse and a school that usually never lacks soccer talent, despite a lengthy title drought (last winning in 2014). Last season, due to several injuries, this team had to rely on younger players like Messi Alawdi (0 g, 3 a), Cam Rakowsky (3 g, 1 a), and Peyton Tiernan (1 g, 4 a), and by 2027, those young players should be running the show at Southwest. Alawdi, a freshman season, looks like a special player and still has loads of potential left on the table. I have a lot of faith in the Silverhawks’ young core, and think they have the potential to eventually get the job done.

2028 – Omaha South

The Packers have been one of the premier soccer schools in the state since they first emerged onto the scene, and have shown no signs of letting up anytime soon. By 2028, players like DJ Holden (14 g, 4 a) and Julian Rodriguez (12 g, 6 a) will have graduated. Fortunately for South, their sides usually have no shortage of capable and talented players, and coach Joe Maas is great at developing the talent he has. By 2028, the team’s current freshmen will have had loads of experience, and won’t have forgotten their heartbreaking loss to Omaha Westside in this season’s championship game. Third-leading scorer Anthony Martinez Bautista (6 g, 3 a) will be back, along with players who, crazy thought, are currently in middle school. A lot will be different in 2028, but Omaha South being in the title hunt will remain the same.

Bonus Prediction

I think Lincoln Southeast is building a legitimate contending program. Since taking over the Knights in before the 2023 season, head coach Marco Sapien built his team up to the No. 5 seed at the most recent state tournament. I got the chance to talk to him a little bit at the Fehr Memorial Goals For Life game, and I really like what I saw from the side in their district win against Papio South. While they might not be state champions by 2028, Sapien and the Knights have been laying a great foundation and I think they will stay relevant for years to come.

Lincoln Southwest won the 2025 NSAA Class A girls championship in May 2025. Photo/Fisher Madsen

CLASS A GIRLS

2026 – Bellevue West

Any question revolving around Bellevue West being one of Nebraska’s top programs last year was completely erased in the state tournament. The Thunderbirds, making just their third state tournament appearance and their first in ten years, made it out of the first round behind a duo of freshman Yirah Sears (33 g, 27 a) and junior Vanna Reitsma (33 g, 16 a). After their first taste of success at Morrison since the Obama administration, I think this team will make ANOTHER jump, fueled by their players from the class of 2026. This team has so much firepower and will benefit from another year playing together on a tough Metro Conference schedule.

2027 – Omaha Marian

If they don’t win it all in 2026, 2027 will mark ten years since Marian’s last state championship. The Crusaders are as consistent as they come, making every state tournament since 2007. While the roster will be a slightly unknown factor, this  pick is almost solely based on how this team always puts themselves in a position to win. It’s not a question of if Marin will add another trophy to their collection as much of a question as to when they will add it. 

2028 – Millard West

Fun fact: I went to Millard West for around five months before the COVID-19 Pandemic, and my English teacher was one of the assistant soccer coaches (hi Mrs. Radtke, if you’re reading this). Another fun fact: the soccer blueblood hasn’t won a championship since I was walking the halls at West, and if they don’t win in 2026 or 2027, that drought will sit at nine years entering the 2028 season. Since the pandemic, the Wildcats haven’t been able to make it out of the first round at Morrison. However, I think they have a shot at a title down the road, and that pick revolves around this team’s strong class of 2028. The team’s top two scorers, Carly Mohatt (10 g, 4 a) and Madison Hutteger (6 g, 5 a), were both freshmen. After three losses of five or more goals in 2025, the team rallied and made the state tournament. This is a team that’s on the rise, and they’ll be a championship force by 2028.

Bonus Prediction

Do y’all remember Millard North girls soccer? In 2021, they were the only team to beat Sarah Weber and her Gretna teammates, which would be Gretna’s only loss until 2024. Before that, the Mustangs won a total of seven state championships. Although they haven’t made state since 2021, their history is among the best in the state. Last year, although they missed out on state, they put together a competitive side. I think they’ll be back in the mix of things by 2028 at least.

Schuyler won the 2025 NSAA Class B Boys soccer championship in May 2025. Photo/Fisher Madsen

CLASS B BOYS

2026 – Lexington

Last season, the Class B boys division gave us at NEST consistently confused us more than any other division. As I imagined, predicting the next THREE years of this class was quite difficult. I decided on Lexington to take home their first soccer championship in school history. The Minutemen have had a great run over the years and have turned into one of the top programs in the state, but have always managed to find a heartbreaking way to exit the state tournament early. Their luck has got to change… right? Two of Lexington’s top scorers last year were very skilled underclassmen, and the Minutemen were one of the top teams through the regular season. Both sound like quite promising championship ingredients. With another year under their belt, and with luck on their side, they’ll get the job done. 

2027 – Gretna East

As some of you probably know, I got my start in this sport covering the 2022 Gretna Dragons side. In 2024, East High School opened, and in 2025, their boys side was already in the state tournament after upsetting then five-time defending champs Omaha Skutt. Gretna is a soccer city, and early looks show that East has received its fair share of the district’s talent. This is a bit of a bold prediction, but I think East as a school has built a great athletic culture across all sports, and that’ll stretch to boys soccer. This is still a district full of talent, and by 2027, the high school from Gretna winning the championship will look a little different than the one that won in 2022.

2028 – Omaha Skutt

Skutt are the only team in these predictions that didn’t make the tournament last year. There’s no way that the Skyhawks will be down for long. Skutt typically is good at finding ways to refill their roster with top talents, and I’m banking this pick on the strong culture and program that Skutt has built over the years. I didn’t even look at the roster, I just get the feeling that Skutt is gonna be back with a vengeance, and SOON.

BONUS PREDICTION

Hastings came out of NOWHERE last season and had a great season. I think that, especially in the Class B boys division, something like that is bound to happen again. I’m thinking that Scottsbluff will make their fifth state tournament in school history sometime in the next three years. Am I crazy? While I hardly think predicting the Bearcats to make a tournament run qualifies me for the loony bin, I’d say thinking I’M crazy for that pick, would make YOU crazy, because as we saw last year, literally nothing is off the table in this division. I think it’ll be a high powered run that comes out of nowhere, kind of like what Hastings was able to put together last year. 

Gretna East won the 2025 NSAA Class B Girls soccer championship in May 2025. Photo/Fisher Madsen

CLASS B GIRLS

2026 – Lincoln Pius

I feel like there’s a lot of repetition in the Nebraska soccer scene. Pius, Marian, and Lexington all have been right on the edge of winning a trophy for the past couple years, but have run into horrible luck in the final stages of the season. Fortunately for the Thunderbolts, their top competition from last season graduated some of the best players this state has ever seen. It would be a perfect time for someone, particularly someone who’s finished in second place for the past two years and who’s only graduated four seniors, to swoop in and nab the title. The only teams that could beat Pius last year were Southwest and Gretna East. With East likely facing a down year, and Southwest being Class A, the tournament is Pius’ for the taking.

2027 – Blair

Cadence Field Is quite a special plater. Last season as a freshman, she burst on the scene with 30 goals and 12 assists, kind of like how the Blair Bears burst on the scene with an explosive offense, qualifying for their first tournament since 2001. The Bears played like a team who’d been to the tournament before, and even knocked off Skutt in the first round before running into the Gretna East buzzsaw. Their success last season wasn’t a fluke and in 2027, Field, as well as Laynie Brown (12 g, 11 a) and Katlynn O’Neil (14 g, 14 a), will still be around. Don’t be surprised if Field takes home Gatorade Player of the Year honors sometime in the next three years as well. 

2028 – Gretna East

While I’m sure their first time ever facing a group of graduating players will lead to some growing pains, there’s absolutely no reason to think the Griffins are down for the count. Coach Chace Hutchinson has only lost one game in his career. Even without the previous pillars of the team, East most definitely find a way to regroup. This is still Gretna East we’re talking about, and their program couldn’t have asked for a better foundation. Don’t be surprised if I’m completely wrong on the timing, and they win it all in 2027 as well.

Bonus Prediction

Lincoln Standing Bear hasn’t reached any success athletically since opening in 2023. I think that will change in time, just based on geography. Geographically, they’re pulling talent from Lincoln, which has had their fair share of girls soccer success in recent years. On a map, the new school is located nearest to Lincoln East and Southwest, both girls soccer powerhouses. Give the Grizzlies some time, and I think in three years, they’ll have a trip to Morrison under their belts.