Cloquet/Carlton and Cloquet/Esko/Carlton have long reigned the Northland soccer scene. Despite some ferocious competition this year, the Lumberjacks could not be chopped down.

Despite Hermantown boys and girls teams sending the Lumberjacks to penalty kicks, neither team could stop the ‘Jacks from more domination in the section.

“We know we’re five shots away from a title, or five shots away from disaster,” said John Sundquist, the CEC boys soccer team’s head coach. “But we’re all nervous. I feel like we put in a lot of work with that right at the end part of the season there. So I felt pretty confident in the boys that they were going to put it away just for our preparation.”

A fourth straight title for CEC has the boys team back in the state tournament with confidence in its returners.

“Returning is huge, because a lot of the seniors right now that were juniors obviously aren’t going to have those starry eyes or are going to go down there a little more wide-eyed than some of the younger teams will,” said Sundquist. “We’ve got nine returners coming back that have been to the state tournament. So we think that’s a huge– not a huge advantage, but at least maybe takes care of those nerves in that first five minutes of the game.”

However, the Lumberjacks know what they’re against.

“You can’t take anybody lightly,” said Noah Hansen, a senior midfielder. “If you’re in the state tournament, you’re always a good team. So if you get down there, just keep your head high. Just play as hard as you can.”

“We’ve just got to give it our all,” said Makena Smith of Cloquet/Carlton girls soccer.”

“We know what it feels like to come up short, so we don’t want to do it again, so we’re not going to,” added junior midfielder Lauren Hughes.

Cloquet/Carlton, winners of six straight section titles have also been the precedent in the Northland, and plenty of that comes from expectation.

“We try to go game by game, day by day,” said Dustin Randall, Cloquet/Carlton’s head coach. “But obviously, the bar’s high. We want to compete. We want to keep pushing forward. So that’s kind of where the program is at. I’m just so happy and blessed to be a part of this team and to be with these kids here in your own.”

Cloquet/Carlton claimed the fourth seed and will face Orono on Wednesday, while CEC takes on Blake.