—Photo by David Borer

Two North Central Conference rivals are now one match closer to securing a spot at the state soccer tournament.

Fourth-ranked (Class 2A) Webster City downed Hampton-Dumont/CAL in a Substate 2 semifinal at home Monday night, 4-0, while No. 8 Humboldt topped Greene County in a Substate 7 semifinal, 2-1.

Up next for the Lynx (14-1 overall) will be another NCC opponent, as they host Clear Lake (10-7) for a spot in the elite eight on Wednesday. The Wildcats hit the road that same night to take on No. 9 Perry in a rematch of a 2022 contest won by Humboldt to earn a spot at state.

Eduardo Perez had two goals with Eddy Fuentes and David Villelas each adding one for Webster City vs. the Bulldogs. Fuentes got the Lynx on the board in the 24th minute off a helper from Conner Peck with Perez scoring three minutes later.

“The boys are excited for another chance to get to the state tournament,” WCHS head coach Craig Signorin said. “They know the job isn’t done yet; we have 80 minutes to go.

“I thought the boys played outstanding, especially in the heat. We haven’t seen that yet this year. Our defense was incredibly solid at the back. I was so proud of how they all played.”

Fuentes had two assists on the night while Edwin Nolasco Ramos recorded a clean sheet with two saves in net. Webster City, who has posted a record of 28-3 the last two seasons and has five consecutive seasons of at least 10 wins, qualified for state last year

For Humboldt, Gaige Allen and Cristhian Ramirez each found the back of the net on strikes. Nolan Gustafson and Carter Westre both recorded an assist with Karson Rubel making 16 saves in net against an attacking Greene County squad.

The Wildcats (13-1) finished with 22 shots on the night, including 14 on goal. Gustafson had eight shots, Westre six and Ramirez four.

Humboldt has gone a combined 61-7 over the past four seasons, winning multiple NCC crowns during that time.

Greene County’s lone goal came courtesy of Gesser Gutierres off an assist by Nathan Behne.

Perry (10-5) earned the No. 1 seed in the bracket and topped Grinnell in the semis, 6-2. The Wildcats have won the two more recent meetings by scores of 3-1 and 1-0.

In other postseason action, East Sac County suffered a 4-3 loss to Unity Christian in a 1A semifinal.