Lions fall in double overtime

Clear Lake’s Will Finn gets physical with a Humboldt player.  The Lions fell to the Wildcats, 3-2.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

Humboldt 3, CL 2 (2OT)

Humboldt edged the Clear Lake boys and won in two overtimes Monday night, April 15, 3-2.

“The first half was a struggle, trying to find our possession and rhythm,” said Lions Coach Zach Hall.  “You could tell we had not played in a week and only practiced once outside due to weather.  We were lacking in intensity and allowed Humboldt to collect the ball and find passes through the middle and defense line.  We got lucky and had a Conner Morey cross bounce off the keeper and in for our goal.”

The Wildcats held a 2-1 lead at halftime.

The second half was better for the Lions in terms of movement and possession.

“We came out with more intensity and were playing smarter soccer,” said Hall.  “We were finding success down the wings and able to capitalize with a Hunter Nielsen header which came off their keeper after a Jacob Petersen shot.”

That shot tied the score at 2-2 and sent the match into overtime.

The Lions continued to execute in overtime and were pushing forward with several chances at goal, but the scored remained deadlocked.

In the second overtime, Humboldt was able to put one in the back of the net with 6:08 left.

Joel Groeneweg had eight saves in goal for the Lions.

Clear Lake’s forwards made six total shots and had six corners.

W-SR 2, CL 1

The Clear Lake boys played toe-to-toe with always-tough Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, April 16, but the Go-Hawks kicked one more in the net and came away with a 2-1 victory.

Lions Coach Zach Hall said he felt his team played together well and put early pressure on the Go-Hawks, while having several good chances to score.

Clear Lake was first on the scoreboard.  Conner Morey was able to poke one past W-SR’s keeper with about 18-minutes remaining in the first half.

The Go-Hawks were able to tie it up before the break, 1-1.

The second half was back and forth, with both teams putting together several good chances at goal.

The Go-Hawks were able to score the go-ahead goal with just over five-minutes left on the clock and held on for the one goal victory.

“The boys played well, even though it was a loss.  They were working together and communicating well,” said Coach Hall.

Webster City 3, CL 0

A slow start put the Lions in a hole early and they were unable to come back against a steady Webster City squad Thursday, May 18.

“We had a hard time getting good possession and moving forward to get any good looks at goal. We were not communicating well at times and didn’t have a lot of intensity to be winning individual battles,” said Coach Zach Hall.

The Lynx capitalized on the lackluster Lions and scored three goals in the first half.

The second half was better in terms of intensity, but the Lions weren’t able to crack the Lynx defense.

“Our passing and movement was better, but we weren’t able to get anything to show for it,” said the coach.

The final score was 3-0.

Boone Tournament

The Lions came away with a 1-1 record while competing at the Boone Tournament Saturday,

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April 20.

The first game pitted the team against Iowa Falls-Alden.  Both teams were fairly evenly matched and it was 0-0 at half.  In the second half, the Lions demonstrated the same good intensity they had in the first half and were finally able get one through on a great pass from Cam Dugan to Will Finn, who slotted it in the back corner.

The Lions posted a 1-0 victory.

In the championship game the Lions took on Des Moines North.

“We kept the good team play and passing going from the first game against Iowa Falls,” said Coach Hall.  “We had times where we lost focus and let them have time and space to pass through our back line.”

Des Moines North was able to get a goal from a long through ball a couple minutes into the second half that goalkeeper Joel Groeneweg was unable to stop.

“Even though it was a 1-0 loss, we played two good games with consistency of possession and teamwork over the two games. This week was a full one with five games, but we were able to improve and get better with each game,” added Hall.

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