“It was a tough one in the championship game,” said Thunderbolts head coach Jeff Figlmiller. “I think we ran a little bit out of juice. Good tournament. We had a great game Friday night, beat South Suburban 7 to 6. So that was really tight, the kids played really good. We were down a couple of players. They played really good in the tournament.

“Then we got to play Burnsville-Lakeville and beta them 7 to 2 and we got here and it just didn’t work out as well as we thought,” Figlmiller continued.

The third time wasn’t the charm for the South Washington County Thunderbolts.

Playing in the state title game, the Dakota United Hawks put on a defensive clinic and defeated the Thunderbolts 5-1 to win the 2025 Adapted Soccer state championship Saturday at Whie Bear Lake Area High School.

The Dakota United Hawks allowed just two goals in three games at state, winning 5-1, 7-0 and 5-1.

The Thunderbolts had defeated Dakota United 8-2 in the regular season opener, then the two teams tied 5-all on Oct. 13. But South Washington’s offense never got rolling in Saturday’s finals.

“It was a tough one in the championship game,” said Thunderbolts head coach Jeff Figlmiller. “I think we ran a little bit out of juice. Good tournament. We had a great game Friday night, beat South Suburban 7 to 6. So that was really tight, the kids played really good. We were down a couple of players. They played really good in the tournament.

“Then we got to play Burnsville-Lakeville and beta them 7 to 2 and we got here and it just didn’t work out as well as we thought,” Figlmiller continued. We need to get the ball in the other end, and we had a hard time doing it, getting it down to score. I’m proud of the kids. Super proud. State tournament is always a long weekend. But we finished the season really well. We ad two losses the whole season. Second in the state is fantastic. Super proud of them. Nothing to hang their heads down about. It’s been a really good season.”

The Thunderbolts got off to a slow start Saturday and trailed 4-0 in the second period. That’s where the score stood for most of the game. South Washington’s only score in the game came on a penalty kick by senior and two-time all-tournament pick Logan Curtis with 1:14 to play in the first half.

Meanwhile, Dakota United sophomore Nolan St. Sauver continually found holes in the South Washington defense and drilled in all five goals for the Hawks.

The lack of scoring success against the Hawks obviously shook up the team as the Thunderbolts had come in averaging 7.5 points a game. But South Washington only had 20 shots on goal in the game and just seven in the second half.

The Thunderbolts finished the 2025 season with a 9-2-1 record.

South Washington County has won four state championships in adapted soccer, in 1997, 1998, 2014 and 2019 and finished as state runner up in 2005, 2006, 2018 and this season. The Thunderbolts have competed in 12 of the last 13 state tournaments.

For Dakota United it was the team’s second straight title and fifth straight appearance in the title game.

Thunderbolt seniors Curtis, Jordan Nde and Kalabe Tobe were all named to the all-tournament team. Next year the team will look much different as South Washington Country loses 10 seniors off this year’s team: Kenatt Navarrette, Alexis Gates, Keria Walker, Brett Wedan, Finley Baker, Gretchen Kopren and Quinn Schwartz in addition to Curtis, Nde and Tobe.

“That’s a big amount, but they had a lot of fun,” said Figlmiller.

Thunderbolts 8, Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville 2

After a narrow win in the semifinals, the Thunderbolts breezed into the state championship game with an 8-2 semifinal win over Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville.

After playing to a 1-all tie in the first half, South Washington dominated the second half, outscoring their opponents 7-1. Nde had four goals in the second half and Curtis three.

It was South Washington Country’s third win over Burnsville this season. The Thunderbolts defeated Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville twice during the regular season, winning 4-0 and 9-4.

Thunderbolts 7, South Suburban 6

The Thunderbolts won a 7-6 thriller over rival South Suburban in the state quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. South Suburban had beaten the Thunderbolts 7-4 in the last game of the regular season.

Curtis scored five goals for the Thunderbolts, Quinn Schwartz and Brett Weden one each.