Off to State: Hoggard to play in boys soccer title game for first time

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) — Thursday will be a historic time for Hoggard boys soccer as they will play in the Class 8A title game in Greensboro.

This is the Vikings’ first trip to the championship match in program history.

Head Coach Dwight Findlay getting his squad ready for their biggest challenge ever and says it has been a long time coming for Hoggard.

“They have been a product of a lot of years of past players coming back, showing up at games,” Findlay said. “They feel the impact of the history. Players wanted to achieve this particular goal. I think this group is going to do it because they are very united. They work extremely hard.”

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

The Vikings have a strong resume. They were the top seed in the East and their only loss was more than three months ago on August 16.

The magnitude of their upcoming season finale is very different, however. The players know this but try not to think about it.

“It kind of has set in,” senior Adler Sauer said. “There’s not really many nerves right now, but I think we’re all preparing and it’s sort of setting as the week goes on. We’ll have to take it a bit more serious, step-by-step, but we’re not doing much different because we want to keep it the same as every game. We want to keep doing what we’re doing.”

They will face West Forsyth for the title, which is located about 45 minutes away from the game site as opposed to the 3.5 hour drive Hoggard has to do.

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

The Vikings have experience against their upcoming opponent and feel their game will travel will to close out their season.

“We’ve watched a couple of their games,” senior Nash Gould said. “We played them at UNCG. We know they have some speed up top, but nothing we can’t counter. Just continuing to use our midfield to our advantage and use our defense and holding it down.”

The game kicks off at 7 p.m. from Guilford College.