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Trevor Arnston scored twice, including a goal in the opening minute, and Hermantown continued its impressive start to the boys soccer season Tuesday night with a 4-1 Lake Superior Conference victory over Duluth Marshall.
For a Hermantown team carrying some unfinished business from last fall, this one carried considerably more meaning than an ordinary early-September conference match.
Marshall ended the Hawks’ 2025 season with a 4-2 victory in the Section 7A semifinals. Ten months later, Hermantown turned the rematch decisively in its favor.
The Hawks needed only a minute to take control.
Arnston scored off an assist from Jack Johnson in the first minute, immediately putting Marshall in chase mode. Finn Johnson doubled the lead in the 14th minute with an unassisted goal, giving Hermantown a 2-0 advantage before the match was a quarter-hour old.
Marshall answered in the 24th minute when Kellen Obester scored to cut Hermantown’s lead to 2-1.
The response from the Hawks was important.
Rather than allowing Marshall’s goal to change the momentum of the match, Hermantown restored its two-goal advantage seven minutes later. Senior captain Quinn Raukar scored in the 31st minute off an assist from Parker Clennon, sending the Hawks into halftime with a 3-1 lead.
Arnston finished the scoring in the 60th minute, taking a pass from Raukar and converting for his second goal of the night.
That combination also illustrated the balance Hermantown has shown during its fast start. Raukar, who scored 14 goals and added five assists last season, entered 2026 as the Hawks’ most established returning offensive threat. But Hermantown has not needed to depend entirely on him for scoring.
Tuesday, Arnston provided two goals, Finn Johnson added another and Raukar contributed a goal and an assist.
It was precisely the kind of diversified attack Hermantown hoped to develop after losing Hunter Nelson, who matched Raukar with 14 goals last season and led the Hawks with 13 assists.
Clennon and Jack Johnson also contributed assists Tuesday, giving Hermantown production from several places in its lineup.
Defensively, the Hawks kept Marshall from mounting a meaningful second-half comeback.
Senior goalkeeper Ethan Aysta made three saves, while Josh Olsen added two. Marshall goalkeeper Nate French finished with five saves.
Hermantown has opened the season with three strong victories. The Hawks defeated Holy Family 3-1 in their opener and Mesabi East 4-1 the following day before Tuesday’s victory over Marshall. Hermantown entered the season coming off a 9-5-4 record in 2025, including a 7-1-3 finish in the Lake Superior Conference.
The early results are encouraging because coach David Thompson’s team entered the season needing to replace significant offensive production while maintaining the defensive stability that kept it among Northeastern Minnesota’s better teams last fall.
So far, the transition has been convincing.
Hermantown has scored 11 goals in three matches while allowing only three. More significantly, the Hawks have defeated their first three opponents by at least two goals and have scored four goals in consecutive matches.
Tuesday’s result may be the most significant of the three because of the opponent.
Marshall was not simply another Lake Superior Conference team on the schedule. The Hilltoppers were the team that ended Hermantown’s season last October, beating the Hawks 4-2 in the Section 7A semifinals.
Tuesday, Hermantown scored first, answered Marshall’s only goal and controlled the second half.
The schedule provides little time for celebration.
Hermantown travels to Proctor for a 6:30 p.m. match Thursday, completing a demanding opening stretch of four matches in eight days. The Hawks then return home to face Hibbing on Sept. 8 before traveling to Cloquet on Sept. 10.
Another important regional stretch follows. Hermantown visits Duluth Denfeld on Sept. 15 and hosts Proctor in a rematch Sept. 17 before traveling to Superior on Sept. 19.
Then comes Marshall again.
The Hawks are scheduled to visit the Hilltoppers on Sept. 21, giving both teams another opportunity to measure how much they have changed in three weeks. Later dates include road matches at Bemidji on Sept. 26, a home match against Grand Rapids on Sept. 28 and October matches against Cloquet, Duluth East and Duluth Denfeld.
There will be tougher stretches and closer matches ahead, and three victories in August and early September cannot answer every question about a soccer season.
But Hermantown could hardly have scripted its opening week much better.
The Hawks are scoring from several places in the lineup. Raukar remains dangerous. Arnston provided the finishing touch Tuesday. The defense has surrendered one goal in each match.
And against the team that sent them home last fall, the Hawks did more than earn another early-season victory.
They delivered their strongest indication yet that this Hermantown team may be ready to make a considerably longer postseason run.