Last season Orono handed Waconia its lone regular-season loss, a 2-0 setback on Waconia’s home turf about midway through the schedule.
This year the highly respected Wright County Conference powers (Orono is ranked No. 4 in Class 1A; Waconia is No. 7) get their regular-season meeting out of the way early.
Waconia (1-0, 1-0) didn’t open its season until Sept. 3 at Delano, which resulted in a 2-1 triumph for the Wildcats. Expect veteran players such as Griffin Bush and Michael Bortz, both seniors, to lead the Wildcats’ offense.
Orono, a state semifinalist last fall, opened this season with a 3-1 win over Holy Family Catholic on Aug. 28 and tied Mound Westonka 1-1 on Sept. 2. Junior Ben Summers returns for the Spartans (1-0-1, 1-0-1) after scoring a team-best 12 goals last season.