Local girls soccer rivals will collide for the third time this season Wednesday when Aplington-Parkersburg visits #10 (1A) Dike-New Hartford for a Region 8 semifinal. It’ll air on 99 The Wave.
The Falcons (9-6-2) began the playoffs with last week’s 4-0 home win over Clear Lake, where they used a strong second half with three goals to pull away. In fact, the defense hasn’t given up a score to an opponent since a 2-1 loss to the Wolverines on Monday, May 12. Head Coach Cory Goetsch says it’ll be a tough test.
“Dike-New Hartford, wow, they’re a great team and they have some real talented girls on that squad,” Goetsch says. “We’ve really been working on it, playing them hard. We’re gonna keep going after it and trying to find those opportunities for us, and hopefully we’ll be able to convert some goals. We were able to get one in the last game and we’re hoping to continue to just keep hitting that net and hopefully find the back of it.”
The Wolverines (11-5-1) are coming off last week’s 9-0 home win over Webster City in the quarterfinals, where they came just short of ending the game early. With three double figure goal scorers, Head Coach Emma Eden hopes the defense can continue to excel alongside a proven strong offense.
“Our defense has been a solid cornerstone in our team,” Eden says. “They know what to do, they know how to position themselves to limit other teams options, and they are a very good team and we’ll just have to make sure that we go in there ready to play, because I really expect this game to be a very good game.”
DNH won 4-0 and 2-1 when the teams met in the regular season.
Pregame coverage will start at 6:50 p.m., followed by the kickoff at 7:00. The winner will advance to Friday’s regional final against either Vinton-Shellsburg or #9 (1A) Center Point-Urbana.
