Ranked soccer teams battle in Wellman

WELLMAN — The 10th-ranked team in Class 1A boys soccer hosted the 12th-ranked team Tuesday in a nonconference match at Wellman’s Rotary soccer complex.

Mid-Prairie blanked the lower-ranked Bulldogs 3-0 taking a 2-0 lead by halftime.

Zuess Fugate blasted a shot in from 9 yards out with an assist from Ethan Trimpe to start the scoring. Owen Trimpe kicked in a pass from Gunnar Gingerich for a goal. Zuess Fugate’s unassisted goal completed the scoring.

Highland's Derek Sandburg boots the ball past Mid-Prairie's Aaron Slaubaugh (14) as Zeus Fugate (3) watches during a 2019 Mid-Prairie 3-0 victory at Highland. (Doug Brenneman/Union)

Keaton Graber went 80 minutes in goal with four saves for the Hawks, who play at Monticello Friday.

KOLCK KICKS IN 3 GOALS AS RAVENS FLY PAST HUSKIES

KALONA — Will Kolck’s three goals helped Hillcrest Academy win its first boys soccer match since 2019 Tuesday. Sporting new uniforms with new faces playing next to three returning starters from 2019, the Ravens defeated visiting Highland 5-2.

Inexperience showed as the Huskies netted two goals in the opening 10 minutes in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference match.

Iowa Mennonite School's Eli Ours kicks the ball during a 2019 postseason 1-0 win over Clarke of Osceola. IMS won three days later, 1-0 over Solon, to advance to the state tournament for the second year in a row. (Doug Brenneman/Union)

Adjustments by Hillcrest coach Marcus Miller, including to some personnel, helped Johnny Diaz assist Kolck on a goal. A John Hughes throw-in to the goalie box allowed Kolck to poke in his second goal that evened the score.

Nine minutes into the second half, Hughes curled a shot around the goalie for a 3-2 lead. It was 4-2 when Noah Miller gained control of the ball near the Hillcrest eighteen, took off dribbling the opposite direction, running by two Highland defenders to find open space, then evaded two more defenders before flicking the ball into the net. Kolck picked up the hat trick on an assist from Dominic Bouse with 5 minutes left.

Aiden Krabill tallied three saves in goal for Hillcrest.

Hillcrest returns to action Thursday, April 15 hosting Burlington Notre Dame.

GOLD TARNISHED BY LIGHTNING

IOWA CITY — Mid-Prairie’s girls soccer game did not end well Tuesday, struck down in a 6-1 loss the Iowa City Liberty Lightning.

The Golden Hawks lone goal came on a penalty kick by Kaitlin Martin.

“Evelyn Gerber played a really good game for us at sweeper and stopped a lot of their attacks, ”Midf-Prairie head coach Justin Barthelman said. “Lilou Beachy played well for her first game on defense. Esther Hughes and Kina Miller were aggressive on offense and had quite a bit of shots on goal. We are still a young team and need to work on a lot of little things.”