​The Golden Hawks made one of their farthest treks of the season, a nearly two-hour drive to Goose Lake, Iowa, on Friday, May 5, to take on the Northeast Rebels. The Hawks were on the second half of a back-to-back, losing the night prior to the Williamsburg Raiders and needing a bounce-back win. They did just that, winning 2-1 off the foot of senior, Amara Jones, returning to the lineup and netting each goal.

​The scoring didn’t come until the second half. The first was a rainy mess for both teams. Jones had some breakaways and decent scoring chances but overall, there were many swings and misses from the hawks when in transition from defense to offense. This was their first game all year in the rain, presenting a new challenge to overcome.

​The best chance of the half came when a Rebels shot reverberated off the post. It created a massive rebound that sophomore, Lydia Beachy, collected and sent out of bounds to give the Rebels a corner kick, yet saved a dangerous scoring chance.

​Beachy, perhaps, had a breakout game here. She played an exceptional game on defense, aiding senior goalie, Kina Miller, on multiple occasions and breaking up some high-scoring chances.

​“Lydia played really well tonight. The defense as a whole played pretty well. Meadow [Flynn] has been playing great too,” head coach, Truman Shetler, said. “Our defense hasn’t been able to get the shutout [but] we’re playing better competition now. So, it’s a little harder to get shutouts but sticking with it and not giving up when we give up a goal is still good.”

​The field opened up in the second as the rain relinquished. The Golden Hawks reawakened with energy unmatched from the first half.

​“We seem to be a better second half team,” Shetler said. “I’ve been making sure that we come out with a lot of energy in the second half and really put pressure on the first five minutes of the second half [to] see if we can get a goal right away [when] teams are still coming out sluggish. So, that’s kind of been our mindset all year.”

The dynamic duo of Jones and senior, Sophia Baker, emerged in the second half. Jones drew a penalty early. Baker was called for the penalty kick and hit the crossbar. Then, Baker setup Jones with a great pass to create a breakaway. Jones, up close, kicked the ball over the net.

​With 30 minutes left, the newfound Hawk energy paid off with a great pass from freshman, Elise Gingerich, to Jones, who finally buried a shot after many attempts.

​A consistent bright spot this year has been Gingerich. As a freshman, it is harder to control the field, yet Gingerich does so on occasion. She has a great shot when she makes it to the net, but as she showed here, she’s a great passer too. She battles shin splints, making the start of each game a bit of a challenge. But with five seniors (four with significant playing minutes), look for Gingerich to step up when she takes on a larger role next season.

​“We’ve been working with [Elise] trying to be more aggressive in the midfield trying to just own it. She’s getting better at it [and] she’s been playing great,” Shetler said. “She’s got a good shot when she shoots it. Sometimes she doesn’t shoot as much as she should.”

​With a goal now under their belt, the Hawks settled in. With 18:54 remaining, the Rebels joined. Northeast senior, Cenady Soenksen, found space behind Miller, and tied the game at one.

​There was about eight minutes of panic as Northeast took back the tempo of the game. In the midst of this panic, Baker assisted Jones on her second goal of the night, a total meltdown by the Rebels in front of their own net. There was confusion on who needed to cover Jones as she made it past the defense to score.

​Jones’ speed was a constant issue for the Rebels. Despite missing playing time, Jones leads the team in goals with eight. After she made it 2-1 with ten minutes left, the Hawks held on for dear life, holding the slim lead to the very end to garner a 9-5 record on the year.

​Mid-Prairie holds a 4-2 all-time record against Northeast, last falling to the Rebels in 2018. After this loss, the Rebels dropped to 3-10 on the year, a tough year for the team. A bright spot? Surely their goalie, senior, Shannon Kenneavy, who stood on her head in this game as the score could have easily been worse from Northeast’s perspective.

GAME STATS   

MID-PRAIRIE SCORING: Amara Jones 2.

MID-PRAIRIE ASSISTS: Sophia Baker 1, Elise Gingerich 1.

MID-PRAIRIE SAVES: Kina Miller SV 10, GA 1.

NORTHEAST SCORING: Cenady Soenksen 1.

NORTHEAST SAVES: Shannon Kenneavy SV 26, GA 2.

MP 0, Williamsburg 2 (5/4)

​Two goals in a span of five minutes is all the Williamsburg Raiders needed to overcome the depleted Golden Hawk squad.

​These two goals came in the first frame of action, propelling the Raiders to a 2-0 halftime lead. The Hawks made a final push at the end of the game with urgency to obtain a comeback, but to no avail.

​This loss was the second in a row for the Hawks and a surprising one at that. The Raiders came into this game with a 3-8 record, and only had 18 goals all year, with six scoreless outings. It is true that the Raiders have never lost to the Hawks going back to 2021, not even allowing a goal against the Hawks.

​This game was a microcosm of the year for the Hawks. They were missing Amara Jones and sophomore, Morgyn Nafziger, due to track & field obligations. They also went without juniors, Evangeline Marner, and Emily Curtiss, due to injuries. It forced the players to step up and play different roles which threw them off, causing an off game when least expected.

​This game was only the second shutout loss for the Hawks all season, falling to Solon 7-0 earlier in the year. Typically, the Hawks are the ones who hold their opponent scoreless, doing so in six matchups.

​Coming up, the Hawks have their final two regular season games this week. They play the Washington Demons on Thursday, May 11. The team will be hindered once more as key players will likely miss out to participate in the track & field state qualifiers in Tipton. It’s an unfortunate schedule for the Hawks. Their final regular season matchup comes against the Bellevue Comets on Friday, May 12, senior night for the Hawks. Yet another back-to-back.

“It’s going to be the first week that we don’t have three games, so that’ll be nice. Hopefully, we’ll be fresh for Thursday, which we need against a good opponent,” Shetler said. “The goal is to try to get a win Thursday, grind out a win, and then come back and close out the season with a win on senior night. I think we’ll have plenty of momentum that night.”

MID-PRAIRIE SAVES: Niva Helmuth SV 10, GA 2.