The defenses maintained the upper hand between Hampton-Dumont-CAL and Wright County’s soccer doubleheader in the cold on Monday night. The girls game ended in a scoreless tie and the boys game closed with a 1-1 tie, as aired on 104.9 KLMJ.
In the girls game, Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s Brissa Rojas came the closest to netting the match’s only goal with a shot that hit the crossbar in the first half. The Bulldogs were unable to substitute players during the match and had to play a portion of the second half with 10 players due to injury, but held their own during the disadvantage.
H-D-CAL Head Coach Ben Schlachter on the effort and attitude of the team when challenged.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls. This is my third season here and I’ve never had a better group of girls that do everything that’s asked of them. The only thing I really ask of them is to come out with a positive attitude and give 100 % effort,” says Schlachter. “As you saw tonight, they’ve answered the bell. If they continue to believe in each other and believe in themselves and put in the work, I think the results will start to come.”
In the boys game, the first half offered each team a prime scoring opportunity with a penalty kick apiece. Goalkeepers Jose Aragon-Mendez of H-D-CAL and Jose Alfaro of Wright County each stepped up in the high pressure spot and denied the shots taken. The Bulldogs broke the scoreless tie when Hunter Rieken netted a goal with 8:37 remaining. Wright County scored the equalizer on a goal by Elvis Chay with 1:15 remaining to force a tie.
Wright County Head Coach Ethan Krogman on playing all 80 minutes and being ready to go regardless of the weather.
“The defense was a wall tonight. It was unstoppable for the longest time. When we make mistake, we don’t bend, we don’t break, we keep on working and we don’t give up until the very end. I couldn’t be more proud of my defense as well as the rest of the team,” says Krogman. “That’s one thing we always preach about, is that there are things that we can’t control. One of them being the weather. We’re in north central Iowa, we can get 80 degrees and we can get 20 degrees within the drop of a hat. The weather wasn’t a factor, it wasn’t a phasing thing for them. Cold or shine, they always show up to play.”
The Hampton-Dumont-CAL boys (2-0-1) and the girls (0-2-1) will be at Webster City on Thursday. The Wright County boys (1-1-2) and the girls (0-1-1) will take on Humboldt on Thursday with the boys at home and the girls on the road.
