The third-seeded Eagles (14-2-2) will experience that first-ever section title game when they take on the fourth-seeded Worthington Trojans (13-5-1) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at New Prague High School in the Section 2AA Boys Soccer Tournament championship game.

The Eagles locked in their section finals appearance in spectacular fashion with a 3-2 win over the No. 2-seeded Westonka White Hawks in Minnetrista on Oct. 9. In that game, the Eagles and White Hawks kept the game scoreless heading into halftime and then dealt with an hour-long lightning delay also. The White Hawks didn’t look sluggish after the long break, scoring twice off corner kicks in the first three minutes of the second half.

Eagles head coach Tim Plocher said after falling behind by two goals quickly in the second half, his players came to life.

“Our guys woke up and were like, ‘OK, we don’t want our season to be over right now,'” Plocher said. “Jackson Ocampo especially did everything in his power to get the ball moving on the offensive side of things and passing it around. We got it outside to Logan Goblirsch, who did a beautiful cross right across from the left-outside, right outside from the 18, and Levi Johnson’s running in and does a volley off of the kick in the back of the net and that was the start of the comeback, which was pretty cool.”

File photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Eagles head coach Tim Plocher walks near his bench ahead of a Big South Conference game against Tri-City United on Sept. 23 at New Ulm High School.

After Johnson’s goal in the 51st minute on an assist by Goblirsch, Josh Shaneman tied it up with a goal in the 69th minute off a feed from Johnson. Dan Brownfield got the final pat on the back for the Eagles as he scored on an assist by Jackson Ocampo with a little more than three minutes to play in the game.

“After the third goal, I had to make sure our guys weren’t leaving the bench so they wouldn’t get a yellow card [laughs],” Plocher said. “They were so excited, but we have technical areas you’re supposed to stay inside of, so I had to make sure that, ‘Yeah, we can be excited, but please don’t get a yellow card, we have to make sure we’re focusing and nothing stupid here.’ They did and that was good. After the game, there was passion in all their eyes, there were a lot of tears of happiness coming out because they really came together and beat a very, very strong and well-coached Westonka team.”

Worthington had a similar semifinals comeback as they battled back to take down top-seeded Mankato East 4-3 on Oct. 9. In that game, Worthington overcame a 3-0 deficit to win in overtime, getting goals from Elder Lopez, Andy Guzman and Lopez again to tie the game and force overtime. Saul Galvez then put in the game-winning goal in OT for the Trojans.

Plocher said Worthington is a well-coached team that works hard to play soccer year round and puts extra time in whenever possible to develop a closer bond. He also said while the Eagles defeated Worthington 1-0 in Worthington on Sept. 16, his players can’t get too ahead of themselves.

The Eagles also defeated Tri-City United and St. Peter both earlier this season and then lost to TCU in a rematch and drew with St. Peter after that.

“We know we beat [Worthington], but we know that we also know that after we beat a team, I’m looking at TCU, I’m looking at St. Peter, you can’t come out saying, ‘Oh, we beat these guys once, we can relax because we can do it again,'” Plocher said. “We have to play like we did the second half against [Westonka] after their goals were scored.”

Plocher said ball movement and pressuring the Trojans when they have the ball will be key due to the Trojans’ ability to pass the ball well.

“Just like a lot of teams who are good at passing, if you press for that and don’t give them that opportunity to look around the field and get balls off their foot, they’re gonna make mistakes and that’s where we’ll capitalize,” Plocher said.

The Eagles opened the season with 12 consecutive wins before falling to TCU. They then drew with both St. Peter and Orono and lost at Mankato East 4-2 to end the regular season. But with a 1-0 overtime win over Mankato West to open playoffs and a 3-2 comeback win at Westonka High School, the Eagles are finding themselves again.

“Besides it being Homecoming, I think that played a big part of it because we only had one practice in between three of our hardest games … but they didn’t have the heart for it like they did the first 12 games,” Plocher said of the team’s final stretch of games in the regular season. “Now we’re in playoffs and they have the heart for it again.”

Ocampo leads the Eagles with 21 goals and 13 assists this season, while Johnson has 13 goals and 10 assists and Methodious Amoah has nine goals and 10 assists.

While those offensive weapons the Eagles boast will be looked at to again contribute against Worthington, Plocher said he’s looking to get a continued strong effort from his defense also.

“Josh Shaneman has stepped up tremendously being a fantastic defender for me, and if he has the type of game he has against Westonka, then we shouldn’t have any problem solidifying that win,” Plocher said. “He’s one of them, he’s my right defenseman and then Tyler Fischer on the left side would also have to play the best soccer he’s played to help contribute. Leadership, naturally Jackson, Cole [Frederick], Daniel and Logan have to make sure they’re still the leaders on the field and help bring the team together if [Worthington] scores first. We’ve got to make sure we come and score back.”