The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls soccer teams won key contests Friday night in Wellman over visiting Prince of Peace and Northeast Goose Lake. The Golden Hawk girls rolled through the Rebels in the opener by a 5-0 score. The Hawks led 2-0 at the break with Gabby Geno’s first goal of the season in the eighth minute and Zoey Curtiss doubling the Mid-Prairie lead in the 20th minute with her second strike of the season. The Hawks added insurance after half with three more goals. Curtiss scored again in the 49th minute to make it 3-0 and Elise Gingerich beat the Northeast defense in the 54th and 57th minutes to finish the scoring with her 11th and 12th goals of the season. In total, Mid-Prairie piled up 34 shots, 26 on goal with four corner kicks. Ruth Witthoft had a clean sheet in goal with one save. After the match, Golden Hawk Zoey Curtiss spoke with KCII Sports about the win.
Curtiss said, “It feels good. I’ve definitely worked hard and our team was really pushing tonight. (When we’re possessing the ball) it really gives you a lot of energy to pass to your teammates when the ball is on the offensive side most of the game. I would say my second goal was more memorable. Elise (Gingerich) had a really good pass in to me, then I went right around the goalie.”
Mid-Prairie is now 7-4 this season and hosts Williamsburg Tuesday. Northeast falls to 1-9.
The nightcap had drama, a last minute comeback, and most importantly for the home fans, a Golden Hawk win, as the Mid-Prairie boys erased a deficit in the final 10 minutes of the match to beat Prince of Peace 2-1. Despite controlling action, in the first 40, the Golden Hawks found themselves down 1-0 at the break. Things stayed that way for the first half hour of the second half. At the 70 minute mark, the tide turned the Hawks way, as Peyton Fox equalized. Down to just 50 seconds remaining in regulation, Drake Price was the hero. Price beat the Irish defense for the game winner. After the match, Fox talked with KCII Sports about his goal and the win.
Fox said, “I’m one of the fastest players on the team so the coaches always tell me to crash, crash, crash the goal. I saw that we kicked it straight through so i was like ‘Oh, it’s coming at me!’ I kicked it. Tried to keep it on the ground, it kind of went up, but went right to the side where the keeper couldn’t get it. I don’t think I’ve been more excited for a goal, something crazy. I have to give credit to Drake (Price), (for his game winning shot), it was just beautiful. Excitement, being able to experience this with the team. Scoring a goal and winning is something special with this team and these players.”
Mid-Prairie had assists from Tucker Miller and Daniel Rodgers. As a team the Golden Hawks finished with 16 total shots, 10 on goal and three corners. Joe Hall had five saves to secure the win. Mid-Prairie is now 7-5 with the victory, Prince of Peace drops to 3-6. Mid-Prairie is back on the pitch Monday when they host Cascade.