WATERTOWN — It's taken 28 years for Watertown High school's boys soccer team to get the chance to play for a state championship.
Seniors Xane Fligge and Roger Carranza each scored goals and assisted on the others to help second-seeded Watertown (16-0-1) defeat sixth-seeded Sioux Falls Jefferson in a state Class AA semifinal playoff game on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Allen Mitchell Athletic Complex.
Watertown will now meet top-seeded and three-time defending champion Sioux Falls Lincoln (12-1-2) for the state title at 11 a.m. Saturday (Oct. 17) in Watertown.
It's the first time the Arrows have hosted the South Dakota High School Activities Association's state championship games (two in Class AA and two in Class A) and the first time they've played on the final weekend since becoming a sanctioned team in 2014.
"It feels good," Fligge said of getting to the championship for the first time. "We've been working on the whole season. That's been our goal."
More on the Watertown-Jefferson semifinal
The Arrows needed overtime to slip past a young-and-talented Spearfish team 4-2 in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Oct. 10. Watertown had also posted a 4-2 win over Sioux Falls Jefferson during the regular season.
It didn't hurt that Fligge opened the game's scoring just over five minutes into the match (34:46). Jefferson held tough, but still trailed 1-0 at the half.
Just over six minutes into the second half, Carranza made it 2-0 and all that remained was to see if the Arrows could survive the final 33-plus minutes to make their first-ever state championship.
Jefferson (9-5-1) didn't go away quietly. The Cavaliers cut the lead in half on Juan Morales Alvarez's goal with 17:07 remaining. They weren't able to find the net again against Watertown's defense and goalie Owen Muller, who finished with seven saves.
"It was a similar game to last time, a hard-fought game that was close," Fligge said about Jefferson.
2025 STATE SOCCER: State soccer titles won by Harrisburg, SF Lincoln, SF Christian & James Valley Christian
Getting up-to-date on Watertown's boys soccer history
Watertown first fielded a high school team in club soccer in 1999 and in 15 seasons of club soccer (many as a Class A team), the Arrows had only three winning seasons. In 13 seasons as a sanctioned Class AA team, the Arrows have enjoyed nine winning steaks (including each of the lasts five).
The Arrows' recent success included advancing to state semifinal playoff games in both 2020 and 2024 before losing to O'Gorman.
This Watertown team is like no other in the history of the program. The squad has 16 seniors who have been playing together for years. They've already broken the program record for wins in a season and also won their first-ever Eastern South Dakota Conference title.
Now all that remains on the to-do list is winning a state championship. The Arrows will be facing a Lincoln that also posted a 2-1 semifinal win at home against fifth-seeded Rapid City Stevens on Oct. 13.
Lincoln beat Watertown 4-0 in the regular season last fall as part of a year that concluded with a 6-0 win over Jefferson in the state championship. The Patriots and the Arrows have not met this fall.
"They had a lot of seniors last year, so it will be different," Fligge said. "We've been watching a lot of film on them, so hopefully we can win that game."
Other Class AA semifinals, state championships
in Tuesday's Class AA girls semifinals, top-seeded Pierre survived against No. 5 O'Gorman, prevailing 1-0 by winning a penalty-kick shootout 4-3. Four-time defending state champion and second-seeded Harrisburg won 2-0 over No. 6 Yankton.
Pierre (14-1-1) and Harrisburg (15-0-2) are scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Saturday for the state title. The two teams battled to a 0-0 draw in late September.
The matchups for the Class A championship matches, which also will be played Saturday in Watertown, were decided on Saturday.
Defending champion and top-seeded James Valley Christian (15-0) faces No. 3 Hot Springs (9-1-4) in the Class A boys' championship at 5 p.m., followed by No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian (11-2-1) meeting No. 2 Dakota Valley (13-3-1) in a rematch of last year's state Class A girls championship that Christian won 2-0.
James Valley Christian beat Hot Springs 8-1 in August. Sioux Falls Christian beat Dakota Valley 2-1 in late August at home and the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw in September in a game hosted by Dakota Valley.
OTHER SOCCER PLAYOFFS: Soccer matchups set for AA semifinals on Oct. 13 & A finals on Oct. 17
All-ESD Soccer Teams
The Arrow boys, as expected, also spearheaded the 2026 All-Eastern South Dakota Conference team released on Oct. 13. Seniors Carranza (23 goals, 9 assists), Fligge (12-10), Isaac Thorson (14-7), Dawson Hartman (2-6), Matthew Bertsch (0-3) and Muller (60-plus saves) each made the team for Watertown, which went 8-0-1 to win its first-ever league title. Carranza and Fligge were each repeat selections from last year.
The team includes four-time honoree Jacoby LaRoche, a senior from Pierre, and three-time selection Mister Min, a junior from Huron. Junior Abwe Ebasomba of Brandon Valley and senior Linus Johnson of Aberdeen Central also repeated.
Seniors Gustav Berknes, Bryson Burgard and Koltin Swearingen and junior Talon Hauge also made the team for Aberdeen Central, which went 7-2 in league play.
Rounding out the squad are juniors Rory Davis and Ellis Parker of Brandon Valley; senior Griffin Bachman of Brookings; seniors Liam Weide and Miles Wright of Harrisburg; senior Kerim Ical of Mitchell; senior Caiden Ahartz of Pierre; senior Hudson Hadrick of Tea Area; and senior Tony Guitron and junior Nolan Pacheco of Yankton. Senior Cael Shrake of Pierre received honorable mention.
Senior Katie Fischer (11 goals, 11 assists) and freshman Sophia Gallardo (21-6) of Watertown and seniors Paige Ewalt and Brianna Fischer, juniors Espynn Kuhfeld and Keyana Stillman and sophomore Jaxi Lozenski of Aberdeen Central earned All-ESD girls honors. Aberdeen Central went 7-2 and Watertown 5-4 in league play.
Ewalt, junior Lexi Helmer of Pierre and seniors Eden Wolfgram and Eden Becker of Yankton and Bria Miller of Harrisburg each repeated on the All-ESD team. Wolgram was honored for the third time.
Juniors Emlyn Swanson and Katelyn Taylor and freshman Aubrey Fischer of Pierre and seniors Sidney DeJong, Regan Schelske, Taylor Syverson and Aubrey Zink and junior Sophia Hulstein of Harrisburg also made the team. Pierre went 7-1-1 and Harrisburg 7-0-2 in league play.
Rounding out the squad are senior Samantha Stemwedel and junior Claire Minion of Brandon Valley, senior Rylee Briggs of Brookings, senior Emilie Ellis of Michell and senior Cate Giles of Tea Area.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown edges SF Jefferson in state semis, gets six all-conference players