The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls soccer teams hosted the West Branch Bears Monday in a River Valley Conference doubleheader. The girls ran away from the Bears with a 6-0 shut out win. The Hawks struck early with Elise Gingerich finishing in the fifth minute to grab a 1-0 lead and Amara Jones doubling the advantage with a sixth minute goal. In the 33rd minute it was Gingerich again to make it 3-0 and less than a minute later Kina Miller joined the scoring party to give the Golden Hawks a 4-0 lead at the break. In the second half the Hawks finished the win with a Paityn Jennings tally in the 68th minute and a Zoey Curtiss strike in the 73rd. After the contest, Gingerich talked about her two goals and the team win. “When I have those opportunities I know I just need to get in the right mindset and shoot. Aim for the top 90s or lower 90s. It’s a great feeling to know that you are benefiting your team. The wind was a huge advantage and being able to play those balls through. We have incredible speed on our team. I can’t wait to see what we do the rest of the season!”
The Hawks dominated the stat sheet, putting up 31 total shots, 26 on goal, with three corner kicks. Mid-Prairie was dominant with possession and needed just one save each from Miller and Niva Helmuth to preserve the clean sheet. The victory moves Mid-Prairie to 5-1 on the season.
The Golden Hawk boys were beaten by the No. 13 in Class 1A Bears 4-1. West Branch took the lead with a 14th minute goal and came right back to double the advantage in the 16th minute. The Mid-Prairie offense put pressure on the Bears and forced an own goal in the 23rd minute to get back within 2-1, but West Branch got that goal back in the 34th minute to lead 3-1 at half, and scored an insurance tally in the 68th minute to secure the win. Mid-Prairie had 14 total shots, seven on goal and made 10 saves defensively, seven from Andrew Kauffman. The loss drops the Hawks to 3-4. The Mid-Prairie girls will travel to Solon Thursday, the boys are off until a Friday contest at Anamosa.