Northfield boys soccer lose Big 9 matches to East and Mayo

The Northfield High School boys soccer team opened its 2026 Big 9 Conference season with a pair of setbacks against Mankato East and Rochester Mayo over the past week. The two losses move the Raiders record to 2-2, 0-2 Big 9. On Tuesday, Sept. 1, Northfield lost a 2-1 decision against the Cougars at home. Mankato East opened the game's scoring with a goal by Teshi Sebera at 32:19 of the first half. At 33:59 of the first half, Northfield evened the score at 1-1 with a goal by Eli Clay. This was Clay's first goal of the season and it set up with an assist from Sebastian Perez, who leads the team with two assists in 2026. The game remained tied at the intermission before Mankato East notched the game winner at 18:21 of the second half. The goal by Brady Ploog came off a corner kick and gave the Cougars a 2-1 edge. In the game, Northfield owned a 7-2 lead in corner kicks as Ben Heinritz was the goalkeeper of record for the Raiders in the game. To complete the week, Northfield lost a 1-0 match at Big 9 rival Rochester Mayo on Thursday, Sept. 3. Mayo scored with three minutes remaining in the first half and managed to hold on for the eventual victory. Northfield plays at Pine Island-Zumbrota-Mazeppa on Tuesday, Sept. 8 and at Faribault on Thursday, Sept. 10 before returning home for a 7:00 p.m. game against Richfield on Monday, Sept. 14.