Damon McDonald can’t complain about Salina South’s recent soccer resurgence.

After all, the Cougars are coming off back-to-back trips to the Class 5A state tournament’s final four for the first time in school history.

But that doesn’t mean that McDonald, the Cougars’ all-state senior central defender, is satisfied. A third-place finish in 2023, followed by fourth place last year are all well and good, but South has loftier goals going forward.

“The state finals, that’s our big goal,” McDonald said Wednesday following South’s 12-0 victory over Salina Central at Salina Stadium. “I feel we have the potential.”

With seven starters back from a team that went 17-4 last year, but fell short in both the semifinals and third-place games, the Cougars are well positioned to make another playoff run in 2025. Further fueling their fire is the fact that it’s been 10 years since South’s only other final four appearance and one that resulted in a state championship.

“It’s motivation and the goal we set for ourselves,” McDonald said.

That said, it has not all been smooth sailing for the Cougars five games into this season. After dominating Central in a mercy-rule game that ended at halftime, they are still just 3-2 heading into Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. home game against McPherson.

Not that they are overly concerned.

“It’s not where you start, but how you end,” said junior midfielder Adrian Lara-Castro, who led South with three goals in the victory over Central. “We take it as a learning experience and go from there.”

Indeed, the Cougars no doubt gleaned more from their two losses — a season-opening 2-1 decision at Rose Hill and a 3-2 setback Saturday against Topeka West in the Salina South Invitational championship game — than in the other three games. Rose Hill, last year’s Class 4-1A state runner up, and Topeka West both remain undefeated.

“They’re good teams,” said Trey Crow, who is in the eighth year of his second stint as South’s head coach. “Sometimes early-season losses teach you what you’ve got to work on.”

Like his players, Crow sees good things ahead for the Cougars.

“This year our main goal with South is to first of all get back to the final four,” he said. “We have a lot of returning starters, a lot of experience that have played there. We’ve added in a few other pieces that got some time last year, and we’re excited.”

McDonald, Lara-Castro and senior forward Rodrigo Palacios all received second team 5A All-State recognition from the Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association, while senior midfielder Juan Escobedo Dominguez was an honorable mention selection. Other top returning players include midfielders Yaden Montanez, Saul Cabral and Lander Alvarado Escobedo, along with forward Josh Soto.

The Cougars did graduate a pair of first team all-state picks in forward Rylan Snell and goalkeeper Luke Matto and second team Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League selection Bret Jones. But the only place they lack varsity starting experience is in goal, where senior Marcello Escalante steps in after serving as Matto’s understudy.

“Our biggest strength is our creativity,” McDonald said. “(But) lost some people at key spots, so finding our rhythm is important.”

Crow already sees his team building in the right direction.

“We’re starting to come together,” he said. “We had a rough start a couple of games against some quality competition, but it kind of showed us where we were, some things to work on, and I think we’re going to figure it out as we go.”