Fairfield boys soccer challenges Pella, falls late

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield boys soccer team showed promise on Monday in a non-conference game against Pella. The Trojans stuck with the 2021 state qualifiers through most of the game, but a trifecta of Dutch goals in the final 23 minutes led to a 4-1 Pella victory.

The Trojans and Dutch split the first half, 1-1. Andrew Twohill had an early goal for Fairfield, scoring on the Trojans’ only shot on goal of the game.

Pella dominated the ball in the first half, earning chance after chance, but Fairfield keeper Mikael Anderson kept the Dutch off-balance with a series of diving saves. Anderson helped the Trojans get to halftime even.

“It's a blessing to have a keeper that you can trust,” said Fairfield head coach Felisto Guezimane. “When he plays like that, the defense can play better, because they know they've got a good goalkeeper behind them.”

The Trojans had a couple of chances to break the tie early in the second half, but couldn’t get a shot to go on net. Pella continued to get the majority of the chances, but the Dutch wouldn’t break the tie until 22:51 was showing on the clock.

Pella’s Isaac Semini scored the tiebreaking goal, putting one in off a throw in. The Dutch would tack on two more goals by the end of the game.

In all, Anderson saved 10 of 14 shots on goal. Guezimane says he liked the promise shown by his junior keeper.

“He was a monster tonight,” Guezimane said. “The saves he made kept us in the game. He was unbelievable.”

Fairfield is now 0-1 on the year with a big matchup against defending Southeast Conference champion Fort Madison waiting on them Thursday.

Guezimane says seeing his young team play with the tough Dutch should give them a burst of confidence heading into the conference opener.

“It's a very big boost,” Guezimane said. “It's hard to replace 13 seniors in one season, but it's a young group and I'm pretty excited to work with them.”