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Seniors lead New Ulm to big playoff victory

By Travis Rosenau 4 min read

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm Eagles had a lot to celebrate Tuesday night at New Ulm High School.

A four-goal night for Levi Johnson, a hat trick by Methodious Amoah and sophomore Aiden Cunningham's first varsity goal were all highlights to delight the home crowd. Most importantly, however, was a playoff victory as the fourth-seeded Eagles earned a 9-4 win over fifth-seeded Hutchinson/Glencoe-Silver Lake in the first round of the Section 2AA Boys Soccer Tournament.

Amoah, who scored the first two goals of the night to set the tone for the Eagles, said he's happy to be a senior leader for the Eagles alongside Johnson and was happy to help lead the way with him Tuesday.

"I feel like my team was counting on me and Levi because we're seniors mostly, and I'm just happy to … lead them into this because this really means a lot to me," Amoah said. "I really like playing with my teammates, so I'm glad we get another game."

That guaranteed extra game will happen at 7 p.m. Thursday night in Worthington against the No. 1-seeded Trojans, who held off an upset by eighth-seeded Jordan 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Amoah's first goal came on an assist by Jace Lohman in the 13th minute and his second came on an assist by Johnson in the 27th minute.

As Amoah got things going, Johnson had to wait his turn before scoring his first goal in close unassisted in the 30th minute to put New Ulm up 3-1.

"I saw my chances at the beginning as well," Johnson said. "Just missed shots I'd normally make nine times out of ten, and I'm not worried about that. I don't stress about that because I know that there's going to be goals coming later and I'm going to continue to just get more and more chances, which I'll put in the back of the net."

With less than three minutes to go in the half, Grayden Macmullan scored to have the Tigers down 3-1 going into halftime. Logan Goblirsch assisted on Johnson's next goal in the 48th minute to put the Eagles up 4-1 before Johnson scored his hat trick in the 57th minute on an assist from Owen Manthe for a 5-1 lead.

Amoah back-heeled a pass to Johnson moments later, but Johnson was knocked to the ground in close to draw a yellow card on Hutchinson/GSL and set up a free kick from 19 yards out. Johnson took the free kick and buried it into the back of the net for his fourth goal and 6-1 lead in the 60th minute.

"I came into it expecting them to put up a good fight," Johnson said of the Tigers. "Last time [we played them], it was a close game. They were up by two I believe, or one, and we got the last-couple-of-minutes winner, so I really came into it with a competitive mindset."

Goblirsch assisted on Amoah's hat trick goal in the 63rd minute for a 7-1 New Ulm lead, before Cristian Cruz Mejia answered less than a minute later to make it a 7-3 game.

Goblirsch got into the goals column on an assist by Johnson in the 67th minute, giving the Eagles an 8-2 lead and leading to more substitutions for the Eagles as the clock continued to tick down.

Silans Benson and Macmullan scored in the final six minutes for Hutchinson/GSL before Cunningham stole the ball and broke loose for a one-on-one shot at the goalie. He ended up scoring on a shot that went into the bottom-left corner of the net to lead to the final score.

Amoah said he expects a tough, close game on Thursday against the Trojans and it will come down to trusting each other and being physical.

"Key in that one is just trust our teammates, play to our feet," Amoah said. "Be physical because they like being physical a lot, so if we're physical to them, I think we can take that game easily."

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