The first year Greene County boys’ soccer program completed step one of the postseason on Monday by defeating Unity Christian (Orange City) 11-2 in the first round of Class 1A Substate 1 play. The victory clinched a winning season for the 10-8 Rams under the direction of head coach Carl Behne and assistant Chad Black, and it earned the team a rematch with Kuemper Catholic in today’s Substate 1 semifinal. The match is in Denison at 5 p.m. against a Knights team that nipped the Rams 1-0 on April 20 in Carroll. Today’s winner advances to Saturday’s Substate final against either Gilbert or Sioux Center at a site to be determined.

The Rams scored a season high 11 goals vs. UC and Brazilian foreign exchange student Leo Marques has been scoring at a high pace all season long as he ranks number two in all of Iowa with 35 goals. He told Raccoon Valley Radio he was pleased with Monday’s win. “We worked hard, and we need to keep working hard on some stuff, especially defense, but overall it was okay. We did a good job, and I’m happy!”

Coach Behne inherited a team with players from several different countries and varying degrees of experience in the game of soccer. “Everything we’ve done this year, I’m extremely proud of the effort. The boys have done a nice job of gelling together. We’ve taken boys that have played all their life, with boys that haven’t played in four or five years, to some that hadn’t played at all. I’m extremely proud of them. They work well together and I can’t ask for more.”