Rubek: Soccer's opening weekend to feature matchups between top teams — weather permitting

A match between the top two girls teams in the state on opening night. A tournament with the four boys finalists the following two days. Potential clashes between defending champions on Saturday.

Now if only the weather can cooperate.

Temperatures are expected to go in one direction over the first three days of the season — and it’s not up — putting highly-anticipated matches in jeopardy over the weekend.

Welcome back, drama.

“Had a great first week of practice, temperatures in the 50s,” Gretna boys coach Tyler Ortlieb said. “Then spring kicked in.”

The last time we saw Ortlieb’s side, it was putting the exclamation point on a championship run for the ages with an 8-0 win in the Class A final. The Dragons scored 16 goals in three matches at the state tournament.

They accounted for nearly half of the All-Nebraska first team selections, and return three of those five in junior forwards Maguire Perkins and Mikey Stukenholtz, as well as returning Gatorade player of the year Brett Perkins, a UNO commit.

Stukenholtz will also play for the Mavs in college, while the younger Perkins is getting interest from the likes of Creighton, Tulsa, and Omaha.

Ortlieb is already seeing the trio, which accounted for 59 goals and 32 assists a year ago, at another level.

“Just when you thought they had hit the ceiling, they continually go a little bit higher,” he said. “That’s the advantage of them playing year round at the club level. They’re probably in midseason form coming into the season based off of what they’ve done in the offseason.”

That may be a scary proposition for defenses, but it’s Gretna’s own back end that Ortlieb will have to worry about. Gone are defender Carson Poole and keeper Alec Scharff, both All-Nebraska picks. The Dragons also lost defensive center mid Joey Witt, a guy that Ortlieb said “did anything and everything that doesn’t show up in a stat book.”

“He really allowed those others to have the freedom to go forward and connect,” Ortlieb added.

Tests for that defense will come early and often, beginning with high-end match-ups over the weekend. The Dragons open on Friday night against Class B No. 2 Lexington, then will face either Omaha Westside in what would be a rematch of last year’s Class A championship, or Omaha Skutt in a meeting of defending champions on Saturday.

Ranked matches against Elkhorn South and Class A No. 2 Omaha Creighton Prep await next week.

“Some of them have not played any varsity minutes before,” Ortlieb said of his defensive replacements. “They’re going to get thrown in and there’s going to be trials and tribulations, especially early on when you’re playing teams that can score. The most important thing is getting a result at the end of the day.”

Dragons girls coach Chace Hutchison can relate when it comes to the early tests.

His side, which won a second-straight state title in record fashion a year ago, has an opening night match against Omaha Marian in a No. 1 vs No. 2 battle on Thursday night.

Then comes a Saturday morning showdown with an Omaha Skutt team that owns the last two Class B trophies.

“That’s the way we wanted our schedule designed,” Hutchison said. “We want those challenges. Those are the games we get excited for.”

The slate also includes five matches scheduled against fellow preseason Top 10 teams.

No one will be crying for the Dragons, though. After breaking the single-season scoring record in 2021, Gretna set the new standard for goals in a Class A girls final with a 6-1 victory over Lincoln Southeast. They’re a combined 42-1 over the last two seasons.

Back for Gretna is Gatorade player of the year Allison Marshall, a Kansas State recruit that racked up 15 goals and six assists as a sophomore a year ago. She’s joined by fellow All-Nebraska first-team selection Ava Makovicka — a Nebraska signee.

The Dragons should also receive a boost from the return of midfielder Madelyn White, one of the state’s top players that missed the majority of last season with a torn ACL.

“Madelyn’s injury last year was obviously a down moment for us,” Hutchison said. “She was just starting to thrive into her role and come into what we had seen her sophomore year.”

It was no surprise, he said, that White — an Augustana recruit — attacked the rehab process.

“She spent the last eight months getting mentally prepared and she’s been a weight room warrior,” he said. “I think she’s coming back more physically fit and stronger. Still is going to have that speed, still going to have that flair. I’m just excited to have that talent on the field, but maybe more excited to see her put the ending to her story.”