The Dike-New Hartford and AP/DNH soccer teams won their games during a doubleheader in New Hartford Monday, as aired on 99 The Wave. The #8 (1A) Wolverines defeated Aplington-Parkersburg 2-1 and the #8 (2A) United defeated Independence 7-1.
In the girls game, the defenses were dominant throughout. Late in the first half, AP’s Adri Allan took advantage of a goalkeeper gamble, and the Falcons led 1-0 at halftime. In the second half, Ruby Varney punched in a shot with 28 minutes left, and Hanna Steffen hit a free kick at the 19:46 mark to score the winning goal. Head Coach Emma Eden says second half adjustments were the difference.
“We kept with our 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 offense-defense transitioning that way,” Eden says. “They handled that switch very well. Like, we’ve never done offense-defense switching up what formation you’re in during a game, but the girls handled it very well. And going into the second half, I think it was just that they wanted it a lot this time. I think it showed with their game, their possession, their communication, just their drive to win the game.”
Both teams will finish their regular seasons Friday. AP will be at Union and DNH will be at #11 (1A) Center Point-Urbana.
In the boys game, the United scored twice within the first 13 minutes of the first half, but nearly an entire half elapsed before the next goal. They piled on five in the second half while letting one slip defensively to finish off the win. Aiden Merrill scored four times, including a penalty kick. Cooper Mulder, Preston Janssen and Jackson Mulder each scored once. Head Coach Perry Bernard was pleased with the second half.
“It wasn’t the best game we played, started out first half really really rough,” Bernard says. “We were kind of coming into this with a couple of our key players out Adrian Huisman was taken out in the NFV game and Gavin Bernard got out about ten minutes of the NFB game and had his ankle rolled on him. So in the back we were kind of working a little bit trying to figure out some spots and move some guys in different positions and kind of took that whole first half to get that figured out. But yeah, second half, we had our little pow wow at halftime and it worked.”
They’ll be at #7 (2A) Webster City Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.
