KALONA
The first blast came just four minutes into Monday night’s boys soccer game against Sigourney-Keota.
Mid-Prairie senior Jack Pennington drilled the first of his four goals into …
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KALONA
The first blast came just four minutes into Monday night’s boys soccer game against Sigourney-Keota.
Mid-Prairie senior Jack Pennington drilled the first of his four goals into the net. The goal began an offensive attack that the Golden Hawks hadn’t pulled off since at least 2014.
And just like that season, when Mid-Prairie won 17 games and emptied its bench at substitute time every now and then, so that’s what the 16th-ranked Golden Hawks did Monday.
The Golden Hawks scored 12 goals in the first half, piling up a 12-0 victory that was halted at halftime due to Iowa’s mercy rule. Mid-Prairie hadn’t scored 12 goals in a game since 2014 and even then the Golden Hawks didn’t manage to score 12 times in one half.
Pennington scored four goals despite playing just half of the first half. Head coach Pat Cady opted to utilize 11-man substitutions throughout the half, including at goalkeeper where senior starter Justice Jones and freshman Andrew Kaufman combined for a shutout.
“This was an opportunity, we felt, that we could do a good mix of starting varsity and then blending in some guys to come in off the bench or come off the bench late,” Cady said. “Plus with the heat and everything, it was kind of important, too, to have fresh legs every 10 minutes or so.”
The game was played temperatures topping 80 degrees, and per a state rule issued Monday, a water break was held in the middle of the half.
Gunnar Gingerich, Owen Trimpe and Alex Bean each scored two goals for Mid-Prairie. Noah Ford and freshman Adrian Sanchez each scored once.
The Golden Hawks (10-1) scored 10 goals in shutout wins earlier this season against Keokuk and Anamosa, but they hadn’t topped 10 goals since scoring 13 against Cedar Valley Christian in May 2014.
After Pennington’s goal cranked things up for the Golden Hawks, Gingerich scored on a penalty kick five minutes into the game. Three consecutive goals by Pennington in a two-minute span later in the half opened up a 9-0 lead with less than 10 minutes left in the half.
Mid-Prairie hosts West Branch (7-2) at 5 p.m. Friday.
