North Fayette Valley shooting for second straight boys’ soccer title

Coach Ignacio Fuentes has a knack for choosing the right words to motivate his team.

“He comes up with a new slogan every year,” senior Kyler White said. “Last year, it was ‘Passion. Precision. Championship Mission.’”

Mission accomplished.

The North Fayette Valley boys’ soccer team defeated West Sioux, perennial powerhouse Iowa City Regina and Van Meter at the Class 1A state tournament in Des Moines last season to capture the program’s first state title.

It marked NFV’s third state appearance in four years under Fuentes.

This season’s motto: “Grind. Glory. Repeat.”

“It’s to remind us that success doesn’t come by surprise,” Fuentes said. “It comes with a lot of grinding and hard work. Putting in the effort will help get us back to the state tournament and hopefully repeat the feat.”

“’Repeat’ is what weighs heavy there,” White said. “We want to go back-to-back.”

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White, a first-team all-state defender in 2024 and Upper Iowa University commit, is among several key players returning to the pitch for NFV.

“He’s one of the best center backs I’ve had through the years,” Fuentes said. “He’s incredibly fast and makes our defense extremely solid.”

Offensively, the 2024 Tigerhawks were a juggernaut.

NFV led all Iowa classes with 110 goals, spearheaded by senior Lincoln Aeschliman.

“He gives me peace of mind on the offensive side of things,” Fuentes said. “He can make a mess of any defense because he is very strong, quick and skillful with the ball.”

Aeschliman’s team-high 29 goals ranked second in 1A. He, too, was a first-team all-state selection.

“It was something special,” Aeschliman said of last year’s championship run. “Andre (Fuentes), Trey (Frieden), all those guys — we’ve played together for so long. All the memories and the grind started a long time ago and it prepared us for winning a state championship.”

Andre Fuentes, Ignacio’s son, was captain of the 1A all-tournament team, capping his decorated high school soccer career.

“It was like a fairy tale — a dream come true,” Ignacio Fuentes said of coaching his son at state. “He and I played soccer in our basement since he could walk … it was one of the best weeks of my life.”

Andre Fuentes’s team-leading 34 assists leave a big hole to fill. White believes there’s enough returning talent to do it.

“We’ve got a good group of guys coming back with lots of experience,” White said. “Four or five of us have been playing varsity since freshman and sophomore year. We know the system and what we need to do.”

Brody Schupbach, Carter Marcks, Gavyn Grove and Decklyn Heins also return to the starting lineup.

“We have a group of seniors now that won last year, and they’re good leaders,” Ignacio Fuentes said. “I’ve seen a lot of good things in the first few days of practice, so I hope we can have a good run this season and do it again.”

Frieden is another key loss. The honorable mention all-state goalkeeper posted a 91.1 save percentage and blocked 82 shots in 2024.

NFV will turn to senior Damian Harnish in net.

“I have high hopes for Damian,” Ignacio Fuentes said. “I think he can fill that role well.”

To fulfill their new motto and make another deep run in Des Moines, the Tigerhawks will rely on their strength: unity.

“When we talk about what makes a team great, it's not just their skills — it’s what they do off the field,” Ignacio Fuentes said. “These seniors have been playing soccer together forever, and they’re very unified. They're inclusive of their younger counterparts. It makes everyone feel welcome and want to be part of this brotherhood.”

NFV’s title defense begins April 1 at home against Dubuque Wahlert.

“I'm super confident,” White said. “I'm confident in our coach and all the work we put in. It's going to be exciting.”