State appearance stems from Blugolds' off-season work - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (WXOW) - Aquinas boys soccer got a chance to play in the WIAA State Tournament for the second time in the last three years and third time overall.

They earned the trip with a 2-0 win over McDonell-Regis in the sectional final. This years appearance came after the team was eliminated early in last year's playoffs.

Many players on this year's squad were also on the 2010 team that lost in the division three championship game. After coming up short last season, this years' work began long before the opening kick.

"During the summer we all played together, a majority of the kids," said senior forward Chris Paulino. "We got extra training with each other. We got to play with each other, so it really helped us out."

Midfielder Carson Schneider added, "Last year we were kind of lackadaisical. This year we came out, our motto was work hard, and we did that."

"We did a lot of work this year building up for this tournament," said head coach Lucas Eagon. "We're where we want to be, just keep getting a little sharper. You know, we just keep improving on the things that we've been doing."

The Blugolds will play Winnebago Lutheran on Friday at 9:00 a.m. at Uihlien Soccer Park in Milwaukee.