The varsity soccer team won the regional finals 5-0 in a rain-soaked match-up against Heritage Christian Academy Thursday night.
In Tuesday’s match against Atchison, head coach Darren Erpelding said the opponents played with more heart in the game than his team.
After only one day to hammer out any kinks in the Cardinals’ strategy, the coach was happy to shed new praise for how his team played in the regional finals.
“Tonight these guys wanted it so bad, and they just came ready to play. Once we got that first goal, I just knew deep down that this is us. We just kept going and going and going. It was awesome,” Erpelding said.
The team showed their dedication for victory throughout the game. Junior Parker Hurla was able to score a hat-trick plus an additional goal.
“I’m excited we were able to bring home the win. We worked really hard for this. When I came into the game I knew that I’d been having some off nights so I knew I needed to come back so I did that and scored for the team,” Hurla said.
Senior captain Camden Ridinger, who also scored a goal for his team, is proud of how aggressive the Cardinals played in the game. The captain also wanted to make sure other schools knew just how confident he is in his teammates.
“We’re one of the most dangerous 4A teams right now. This group of boys didn’t start off with much in the summer, but we brought it together. We turned into a championship team, and we can make a really deep run,” Ridinger said.
State quarter-finals will be next Tuesday although the team is not certain who they will play.
“It all just depends on how the bracket plays out, then we go from there,” Erpelding said.
One thing for certain among the Cardinals is this will be a night to remember for Eudora High School soccer.
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