Northside boys soccer reaches state final 4

Vikings into Class 3 semi-finals vs Tabb

ROANOKE ,Va.With a win over Spotswood on Tuesday, the Northside boys soccer team secured a spot in the Class 3 State Semi-Finals. 

"We were not expecting a lot of this success at all, actually," head coach Lorstan Allen admitted. "We had a team meeting before one of our games and I said 'be honest, how many of you guys thought we would make it to this point?' And this was when we were going to the region final."

"One kid raised his hand and I said- 'rephrase that, from the beginning of the season', then he put his hand down," he said laughing.

A modest history in the making, the Vikings have never made it to the final four of the state tournament until this year. 

"It's phenomenal, the excitement, the thrill, I've never been in this situation before," goalkeeper Scott Newmann said. "It's a phenomenal feeling, I can't believe that we're here. It feels great."

You can credit star midfielder Danny Pereira, or first year head coach Lorstan Allen's approach to the program. But if you ask for the real secret to success, it all comes down to trust. 

"On the field we just trust each other with the ball," Pereira said. "We talk a lot, we're a whole family, so that's what keeps us together."

Newmann agreed. 

"I think more people are buying into the program and people are actually starting to believe we can do something," he started. "We just have everyone behind us and pushing us to go farther and farther."

Two more wins and Northside will bring home their first ever soccer state championship, but they know better than to get ahead of themselves. 

"We've actually kind of banned trophy talk because  we want to make sure everybody is focused on the next game coming up," Allen said. "We don't know when things are going to end. We figured if we work one game at a time instead of going thinking about the last game, we might actually get there."

Northside will face off against Tabb on Friday at 9 a.m. at Salem High School.