The Gretna boys soccer team scored more goals Wednesday night than the Dragons had wins in 2025.
Elijah Fulton recorded a hat trick while Alex Sowinski and Nathan Thiellen each scored a pair of goals as Gretna defeated Lexington 8-2 at Morrison Stadium to claim its third Class B state championship and fourth title overall.
“It’s amazing to have these guys by my side, the coaching staff, the senior class to be able to do this,” Gretna coach John Cover said. “I was an assistant for four years, so seeing them grow up and be able to win this means the world to me.”
The Dragons (17-1) won 10 more games in Cover’s first season at the helm than in 2025 (7-9).
Fulton, one of Gretna’s four seniors, scored his first goal of the night in the third minute. He headed in a shot after the ball deflected to him inside the 6-yard box to give the Dragons an early 1-0 lead.
“I knew the keeper would be coming at me, and I just had to get my head on it,” Fulton said. “Once I did, I turned around and I saw it go in the net.”
Fulton bookended the score sheet with the final two goals of the night, adding tallies in the 76th and 77th minutes to push Gretna’s final margin to six.
Lexington (15-6) answered Fulton’s early goal in the seventh minute with a goal from Alexander Barraza-Saenz. He drove a shot from 30 yards out into the upper-right corner to even the match at 1-all.
Nathan Thiellen put the Dragons in front for good in the 11th minute on a volley from just inside the 6-yard box. Evan Lafferty headed the ball to Thiellen, who snuck a shot inside the far post to make it 2-1.
Alex Sowinski added a goal off a set piece to double Gretna’s lead to 3-1 in the 28th minute. Following a Lexington foul, Sowinski put a free kick from 20 yards out into the upper-right corner.
“He’s just got a strong natural foot,” Cover said. “He’s just gifted with it. I think it comes from his brother and all the time he spent with him.”
Sowinski added a second goal off a free kick in the 74th minute, this one coming from 35 yards away. He scored three goals on free kicks in the final two rounds of the tournament and also scored a penalty kick.
“I kind of wanted to score again and get a chance to do a second, even a third free kick,” Sowinski said. “I always want to put it on frame.”
Sowinski’s brother Tommy won a state title with the Dragons when they won the Class A title in 2022.
“I watched my brother do it when first came here his junior year, and me doing it again is something special,” Sowinski said.
The Minutemen got within one at 3-2 in the 44th minute off a goal from Jose Navarrete-Escobedo. Kendrick Marroquin-Ordonez fed the ball to Navarrete-Escobedo at the penalty spot, and he put his shot into the near side of the goal.
Lexington pushed for the equalizer but couldn’t get another past Gretna’s Grant Stangl, and Sawyer Hehn doubled the Dragon lead to 4-2 in the 64th minute with a shot from 18 yards and went just under the crossbar.
Lexington finished as runner up for the fourth time in the past six tournaments.
“This one stings,” Lexington coach Joel Lemus said. “It always stings when you lose, but the game was close. We just couldn’t close it out at the end.”
Cover played for Gretna from 2016-19 and has now brought a title to his alma mater.
“It means the world,” he said. “I was playing four years, I was never able to get a state title, so being able to do this as a head coach and have these guys by my side is amazing.”
Gretna’s eight goals was the most scored in a Class B boys title game and tied the 2022 Dragons, who scored eight in winning the Class A final. The six-goal winning margin tied for the largest boys Class B win.
“We just want to do it for [Coach John Cover] as well”
Gretna’s Alex Sowinski had two goals in the No. 1 Dragons 8-2 win over No. 6 Lexington to bring in the fourth state title in program history. #nebpreps pic.twitter.com/6Id28eZJNW
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) May 21, 2026
