Submitted photo Pictured is the 2026 New Ulm United Girls Soccer Club U17 team, which won the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association Summer State Championship last Sunday in St. Cloud. Front row (l-r): Ahna Lendt, Mollie Board, Mira Dorschner, Grace Barie, Yessenia Fernandez, Josie Nelson, Zoey Zins and Marlena Kral. Back row (l-r): Noelle Zarnstorff, Nora Hinkle, Lili Waloch, Allie Nelson, Jes Skoglund, Nadia Zarnstorff, Amelia Hinkle, Claire Kveno and Piper Kapolczynski.

NEW ULM — For a talented young group of soccer players that have grown up and experienced great victories together over the years, the New Ulm United Soccer Club Girls U17 team experienced its biggest victory yet last Sunday.

Winning a state championship.

With a 3-1 win over St. Peter on Sunday, New Ulm captured the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association Summer State Championship at Tech High School in St. Cloud. 

New Ulm played five games in the tournament, going 3-0 in pool play with wins the RFC Girls U17 team (6-0 win on Friday), the Mississippi Valley Soccer Club U16 team (9-1 win on Friday) and the North Star FC of Austin (3-1 on Saturday).

They then defeated New Prague in the semifinals on Sunday morning and St. Peter in the championship game on Sunday night.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the state title win is how young many of the team’s players are.

“The average age for this group is 15 and a half, so we’re a very young team,” New Ulm United coach Matt Hinkle said. “It was just a lot of talent across the different age groups and it’s been a lot of fun to put it together. Frankly, we’ve got a couple players playing in Sweden right now that weren’t able to make it that would have played as well.” 

Coach Hinkle said being that he wears multiple hats as the New Ulm United Soccer Club President, coach and parent, the state championship win was extra special.

“[My kids and their friends] are on this team, so watching this group grow for the last 10-plus years, it’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “I think having a mixed group, my middle daughter, Nora Hinkle, was on the team as a 13-year-old and she scored a goal in the tournament. One of her [friends] was our starting goalie for the entire tournament, so as a coach and really the area club coach, it’s just been really fun to see women’s soccer grow.”

After defeating New Prague 1-0 in the semifinals on an Allie Nelson goal that was assisted on by Grace Barie, New Ulm moved on to the championship game with St. Peter on Sunday night. In the title win, New Ulm got goals and assists all around as Jesalyn Skoglund scored on an assist by Marlena Kral, Mollie Board scored on an assist by Claire Kveno and Mira Dorschner scored on an assist by Nelson.

New Ulm’s summer state title win was a culmination of a season that started in May and required commitment, effort and a little collaboration also.

“We played Division 2 all season,” coach Hinkle said. “Season starts the beginning of May and goes through June, so it’s a relatively short season, but we played U18, Division 2, and then this team was really a combination of three different teams. It was a combination of my team, the U16 girls had a team and then we actually had two players from U14, one being our goalie [Nadia Zarnstorff]. So, we put a poll out to those three teams saying, ‘Who wants to go to this tournament? We’re going to get a core group together, and we’re going to need some more help, because this tournament’s after our normal, typical season.’

“We got a group together, they all wanted to go, they’re very committed. Had practices for those two weeks to get everyone acquainted with everybody because we had some new faces on the team, but the group came together really well and everyone got along.”

Coach Hinkle said he’s been excited to see interest in the sport grow and highlighted the club’s youth. The players have also embraced an important team message.

“The U16 team is incredibly talented,” coach Hinkle said. “We had two teams a couple years ago, and that’s unheard of because we just don’t normally get those types of numbers and players to actually field two separate teams, so that was a lot of fun. It’s building something. It’s building character and I think they’ve really embraced that. 

“We talk about it all the time, it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it, because everyone’s doing the same thing, so it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. Everyone’s gonna practice, everyone’s gonna play games, but how are you going to do it? How are you going to hold yourselves? It was a fun challenge and these girls really embraced it and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Coach Hinkle has coached many of the team’s players since they were 5 years old, including his oldest daughter, Amelia. He said in his 10 years coaching, this is the first summer state title for the group.

Now, coach Hinkle is looking forward to the fall and seeing what can be accomplished next.

“I’m excited for the fall,” coach Hinkle said. “I’m excited for where we’re going to go as a team for high school and then certainly club. It has just been a blast. We’ve been competitive at every game we’ve played. We haven’t won them all, but in years past, I would have said we got beat by a better team. This year, across the board, it’s like if we could have done some things differently, we can compete and we can win, and that’s exciting.”