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Raiders top Grinnell with 3 goals second half
Secure third straight WaMaC West title
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WILLIAMSBURG — They needed an outright win. And they delivered.
The Class 2A No. 5 Williamsburg boys soccer team secured their third straight WaMaC West title Tuesday in a 3-0 win over Grinnell. A loss or a tie, and the title would have gone to Grinnell.
“We’ve been part of this for all three years and it just feels amazing,” Williamsburg senior Braysen Doehrmann said.
Doehrmann and fellow senior teammate John Eichhorn were responsible for all three Raiders’ goal in the match.
After a scoreless first half, the Raiders broke through in the second half.
In the 11th minute of the second half, Mason Eggleston dribbled the ball down the field with numbers and passed it to Doehrmann. Doehrmann then made a move and connected on a shot at the 29:20 mark.
The Raiders next goal came off one of the more unique passes you’ll see.
Eichhorn flicked his leg backward to kick the ball forward to Doehrmann, in which Doehrmann capitalized with his second goal of the half at the 14:20 mark.
“I knew I had to keep the ball moving forward, so I put my body part out that could,” Eichhorn said on his pass.
Exactly a minute later, Eichhorn scored himself off a header.
“I’ve been trying those headers since a freshman, that’s what I’m good at because of my height,” said Eichhorn.
The Raiders then led 3-0 and held firm for the shutout victory.
“We kind of just got fired up more and played more with each other,” Doehrmann said on the three-goal second half.
Substate postseason brackets were also released Tuesday, and the Raiders now know their path for a trip to state.
For the second-straight season, the Raiders are a top seed in their substate, and will receive a first-round bye in Class 2A Substate 6.
The Raiders await the winner of Washington-Clarke Tuesday, May 27.
With one regular season game remaining, the Raiders are the healthiest they’ve been all season and will try to get over the hump that has been the substate final the past two seasons.
“I feel like we just know we are the ones that are capable of doing it,” Eichhorn said on this year’s team. “No one else is going do it for us so we just got to grind.”
Falling in the game to go to state the last two seasons also adds some extra motivation for the Raiders this postseason.
“We do not want that to happen again,” Doehrmann said.
In the first game of the varsity doubleheader, the Grinnell girls defeated Williamsburg 4-0.
