Shakopee Sabers Boys Soccer 2025 Fall Season Preview
By Bill Schleper
Jon Poppen - Head Coach for the Shakopee Sabers Varsity Boys’ Soccer Team since 2007, and currently the longest-tenured Varsity Head Coach in the Shakopee school district, still gets excited when the new season rolls around and he gets to see another group of talented athletes compete for roles on the Sabers’ Varsity team. “I’m super excited about our season. We graduated a bunch of seniors last year, so we will be young”, says Poppen, but the excitement of last season’s playoff run is still fresh in his mind. “Last year the boys did a great job and had a thrilling playoff run. We won our first round in a shootout against EP at home. What a match! Our next match we went toe to toe with Minnetonka and took them to double overtime. We ended up losing, but played one of our best matches of the year!”. The Sabers finished 9-6-1 on the season during the 2024/25 campaign, and will return two starters this season to give this young team some good leadership on the pitch.
Dominic Voeung will be a 4-year varsity player and a captain this year. According to Poppen, “He is dynamic and an explosive attacker. He was being looked at by MN United this summer for their academy. He is that good!”. The scouting report on Voeung is that when on the dribble, he is very hard to stop. Last year he scored 4 goals and looks to tally more this year. He’s definitely a top player to watch for the Sabers this season.
Also returning on the roster for the Sabers is Evan Karki. Karki is the Sabers’ second captain this year. Poppen states, “He is the steady presence in the back. He distributes well and looks to control the pace of the match”. On a young team, this will be an important leadership role to have for the Sabers, and Poppen has confidence that Karki is the right fit for the job. Keep an eye on those leadership skills and how Karki helps as a role model for the younger players this season. It could make all the difference in how this group performs as a team throughout the season and into playoffs.
Other key returning players who will look to take on bigger roles this season; “Nano (Emiliano Elorriaga), Marc (Houndji), and Jorge (Oñate Palacio) will all look to make an impact as the season goes on. Everyone else will be new to varsity, and it will be fun getting to know this new group!”, according to Poppen.
The Sabers open the season before school even starts this year, with a home match on Saturday, Aug. 23 at 5:00 vs. Eden Prairie. The Sabers then play at New Prague on the 26th before returning back home to Vaughan Field in Shakopee for a game Vs. the Chaska Hawks on Thursday, Aug. 28. According to Poppen, “The two home games are big Section match-ups that will hold a lot of weight later in the season during section seeding - which could be crucial in a tough South Suburban Conference for the Sabers.
Under Poppen’s guidance, the Sabers won a conference title in the Missota Conference in 2010, and in the always-strong South Suburban Conference (SSC), they won the conference in 2020. That season, Poppen coached “Mr. Soccer” and National Gatorade Player of the Year, Zach Susee and crew.
Soccer has become as popular as any sport in Shakopee over the nearly two decades that Poppen has been at the helm. In addition to coaching the SHS Boys Varsity team, he not only coaches a number of high school girls in the summer, but also works for the Shakopee Soccer Association (SSA) as the assistant director of coaching, where he can help guide and build the soccer program for long-term success.The number of players that Poppen has coached in recent years who have gone on to play in the college ranks is quite impressive. Currently, Zach Susee continues to show off his incredible talents at Washington University in St. Louis, Selorm (Nathan) Dake is at RIT in New York, Nick Isensee and Whitaker Root play at UM-Morris, Nathan Martinez is at Northwestern (MN), while Max Meeh, Logan Bergien, and Rodolfo Saldivar Contreras are at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and James Torguson just headed up to St. John’s last week to start his career as a Johnnie in Collegeville - to name a few.
Tickets for all home games/events this season will only be available thru “GoFan” - a new ticketing app being used for all Shakopee Activities this year. Here is alink to buy your tickets to this Saturday’s matchup between the Eagles and the Sabers:
Tickets will be good for BOTH the boys’ and the girls’ games that evening, with the Boys’ Varsity Soccer game at 5:00pm, and the Girls’ Varsity Soccer game following at 7:00pm - both at Shakopee’s Vaughan Field.
You can check out ALL the Sabers’ sports and events activities schedules (and have them automatically downloaded onto your phone’s (or other devices’) calendar through the “rSchool Activity Scheduler” (App) this year. (Check your App Store on your device). You can select the school and sports teams or events you are most interested in following, and have their schedules automatically downloaded directly onto your device! It is a great way to follow ALL of Shakopee Sabers’ activities and events!