It was a season to remember for the Omaha Westside boys soccer team. The Warriors began their impressive state tournament run with an 1-0 upset win over their longtime rival Creighton Prep, who was seeded second in the tournament.  Then Westside defeated the Bryan Bears in the semifinal by a score of 2-1. 

“We upset Prep in the  first round, which no one expected,” junior forward Tristan Alvano said, “Everyone just thought they were going to cakewalk us. Then we beat a good Bryan team in the semis.”

The Warriors faced the top-seeded Gretna Dragons for the State Championship. In the middle of the first half with the Warriors already down 1-0, the team’s top defender sophomore Luke Noameshie received a red card. Westside head coach Mike Dean thought the red card made a detrimental impact on the match. The Warriors went on to lose 8-0.

“Really unfortunate,” Dean said, “Gretna’s a really good team, and when you have 10 men without your best defender, it’s really a challenge.”

The Warriors finished with a 15-5 record. The squad had seven seniors, but many underclassmen as well. Westside returns sophomores like Noameshie, Will Bauerly, Coehen Rusin and veteran forward Alvano. The Warriors still have plenty of talent and will look to make some loud noise next season. 

“A lot of our starters were sophomores,” Dean said, “I know the future looks bright, it’s just we’re going to have to lick our wounds after this one.”

Westside ended the season ranked second in Class A by the Omaha World-Herald behind Gretna.