Decorah Decisively Defeats Dubuque, 4-2

After an evenly played first 38 minutes, Decorah ended the first half on a well-placed goal by Mitch Cornelius for a 1-0 lead. Jake Belay, in his first varsity start as goalkeeper, held the Dubuque Hempstead scoreless for the first half and played a solid game overall in a highly charged game. Decorah game out the second half with goals from Jason Olsgard, Kellen Sherburne, and Jackson Stalberger to take a 4-0 lead before giving up a couple of late game goals to the Hempstead team. Decorah was able to get in significant playing time for all members of the varsity roster which will provide good experience as the team heads into tournament play next week.

With the return of Peter Vanney to the field after an illness and with the anticipated return of Brian Jones in the goal, Decorah will have full strength back as they look to knock off Waverly on Monday and as they take on South Tama in first round tournament action. With continued focus and smart play on the defensive end of the field, with the crisp and creative passing, relentless pursuit, and determination to put the ball in the back of the net by the midfielders and forwards, and now with two solid goalkeepers in Belay and Jones, Decorah should be poised to make their presence known during tournament play. The experience of playing in highly competitive games both this year and in last year's tournament will also give them the confidence necessary to play with the best teams in the state.

Decorah's next game will be in Waverly on Monday. The keeper of this blog regrets to inform the diligent readers that the pictures from the Dubuque game were rather pathetic. There will be a few posted soon but there aren't any that are collector's items. Improvement will be expected during the next couple weeks or I may have to fire myself.