Photo Courtesy of Nicole Miller (MP Sports Social Media)

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys soccer team saw their season come to an end in Oskaloosa this week, falling 3-1 to Grinnell in the opening round of the Class 2A Substate Tournament Monday. Grinnell got a goal in the game’s first five minutes, forcing the Golden Hawks to play catch-up. The Tigers would double the advantage to 2-0 later in the half. Still in the first 40 minutes, the Golden Hawks broke through when Owen Trimpe made Grinnell pay with his 19th goal of the season to make it 2-1. The Tigers would get that tally back just before break to go into the locker room up 3-1. Defense was the hallmark for both sides in the second half as the physical play on the pitch continued. For all of the first half fireworks, neither squad could find the back of the net after intermission. Grinnell won the match and stat sheet, taking total shots 19-15, shots on goal 13-9 and corners 7-2. Golden Hawk head coach Wyatt Cady joined this week’s KCII PM Sports Page to break down what he saw on the sidelines. Cady said, “Grinnell got one early. Our kids did a really good job of shaking that one off. That did not phase them whatsoever. Owen Trimpe had an awesome goal. Then he running over to the sideline and was pointing at me to let me know that he passed me in school history. Spirits were high. Defensively, we had a few mental breakdowns. We were letting kids do too much with the ball. We gave them too much space and they capitalized. That got cleaned up in the second half. They were a good team, and a very physical team. The referees let that play. I have no issue with that, I enjoy playing physical. (The Seniors) have always talked a lot in practice. They always hang out. They are there before practice starts and when practice ends I have to tell them when I’m leaving. They have always just been about it. They enjoy the atmosphere. You could see this year that it was setting in that this was their last go-around.”

The loss ends Mid-Prairie’s season at 9-7. Grinnell is now 4-10 and advances to the second round of substate Monday at two seed Knoxville. The Golden Hawks say goodbye to six seniors, Owen Trimpe, Noah Ford, Koby Karnes, Ryan Beatty, Evan Phillips and Andrew Stultz.