Amidst freezing temperatures and stiff winds in Riverside, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks knocked off the Highland Huskies 2-1 in a battle of KCII area boys soccer teams Monday. Highland used homefield to grab momentum and the early lead as Logan McFarland beat the Golden Hawk defense to make it 1-0 Huskies in the seventh minute. In the 14th minute, Mid-Prairie drew even on a tally from Daniel Rodgers, and that’s where the score stood going to half as the defenses dictated the final 20 minutes of action. Out of intermission, Mid-Prairie cashed in the first chance of the second half with what proved to be the game winner when Joe Hall found the back of the net to put the Hawks on top 2-1. The slim lead was enough for the Mid-Prairie defense who stood tall the rest of the night. After the win, the two Golden Hawk goal scorers spoke with KCII Sports about the victory. Rodgers said, “The expectation was to come out and get a win. Our backs were strong at getting the ball out and getting it wide. When we needed to make runs, we were there. Shots were on goal, especially in the second half. (On my goal), we got the ball at about mid-field and the back was absolutely flat. Their goalie came out a little bit, I took a little touch to the right, and boom, we got a wide open goal!”

Hall continued, “(On my goal), there were seven or eight white jerseys up top. Peyton Fox had the ball, then it got deflected around. It came to me, I took a touch and kicked it in the goal.”

Mid-Prairie is now 1-0 on the season as they get ready for their home opener with Williamsburg Thursday. The Huskies are 0-1 on the year and travel to Washington Thursday.