"Talented players win games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."

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.

Decorah Boys Young at Heart

By KELLY BEATON, Courier Sports Writer

Decorah boys' soccer coach Kyle Nelson has been known to log a few laps on Cartoon Network's nightly "Adult Swim." He's no stranger, for instance, to spending quality time watching "Family Guy."

In other words, Nelson is fluent in the language of today's youth. And it's with good reason: he's still a member of that demographic.

So it was also with good reason that Nelson, a Decorah graduate who just turned 21 last week, entered his first practice as head Vikings soccer coach this spring with trepidation. But so far, the transition has been seamless. Nelson finds himself at the helm of a Decorah club that's 8-2 and ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, a year after reaching the state semifinals.

"Our biggest concern was being young and having to dealwith respect issues," recalled Nelson, a junior striker on Luther's men's squad, whose main assistant, John Schroeher, is 20. "But there hasn't been one issue with that. I feel, with a younger coach, we can relate."

There's no doubt Decorah is a united contingent these days. The Vikings are ransacking opponents at every stop on their schedule, with junior Mitch Cornelius (16 goals) leading the way. And they're all speaking the same language.

Some coaches quote Knute Rockne. Others Vince Lombardi. Nelson prefers to read from The Book of Peter ... Griffin.

"'Family Guy' stuff, everybody jokes about it," Nelson said of his club's affinity for the cartoon, centered around one of the more politically incorrect characters on TV. "It just helps break the ice. It keeps everybody relaxed."

As do all those wins the Vikings keep collecting.

No. 4 Decorah Bounces Back

By BRIAN PALS, Courier Sports Writer

WAVERLY - Denied a berth in the championship round of the Waverly-Shell Rock Invitational, Decorah took out its frustration on the hosts.Ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, the Vikings (8-2) were bumped out of the finals by a 3-0 second-round loss to Glenwood, their first loss to a 1A opponent this season. The goals they had been seeking came in bunches in the third-place game, though, an 8-0 romp over host Waverly-Shell Rock.“We’ve got some things to work on,” said Viking coach Kyle Nelson. “I don’t know if the Glenwood game was a wake-up call, but they’re a good team with a really good goaltender, and that showed up in the final score.”


Decorah answered with an offensive onslaught against Waverly-Shell Rock, led by Kellen Sherburne with the first hat trick of his career, while Jason Olsgard and Mitch Cornelius each scored twice, and Andrew Casper added a single goal.Cornelius’ goals gave him four for the day and a team-high 18 for the season.“We didn’t play the best against Glenwood,” Cornelius said. “But it was good to see us come back and respond like that.”The Vikings responded in a hurry, scoring just 1 minute and 20 seconds into the game, when junior midfielder Ben Langholz hammered a sizzling crossing pass for the first of his four assists in the game. Sherburne headed the shot in with no defender between him and Go-Hawk keeper Donnie Soash, and a long game for the W-SR defense was under way.

With his squad visibly worn out after a day of tournament play on top of games earlier this week against Cedar Falls and Waterloo Columbus, W-SR coach Chris Hamilton rested several of his regulars against Decorah.“We were just so tired we couldn’t even take that as a normal game,” Hamilton said. “We had a couple of injuries, so we were sitting some players we hadn’t even planned on. When we play Decorah again , hopefully it will be more of a game.”Decorah goalie Brian Jones recorded his second shutout of the season in a 3-0 first-round win over Spencer. By the end of the Waverly-Shell Rock game, though, he traded jerseys with striker Cornelius, who got his first varsity experience as a keeper.“It makes me appreciate what it’s like a little bit more,” Cornelius said. “It can get boring back there.”Decorah will return to the Waverly-Shell Rock Soccer Complex twice more this season, first for a regular-season rematch with W-SR May 15, and then in a first-round substate action against South Tama May 18.

Boys Soccer Squad Takes Two of Three at Waverly

It was a good weekend for the Decorah High School boys soccer team. The Vikings took two out of three matches at a soccer tournament in Waverly.

In the first game, the Vikings defeated Spencer 3-0. Decorah's goals were scored by Mitch Cornelius, assisted by Kellen Sherburne (5 minutes); Mitch Cornelius, assisted by Andrew Casper (29 minutes) and Jason Olsgard (37 minutes)In the second game, Decorah dropped a 3-0 decision to Glenwood. However, in the final game of the day the Vikings defeated long-time nemesis Waverly-Shell Rock 8-0. The Vikings scored early and often:Kellen Sherburne, assisted by Erik Strand (2 minutes); Kellen Sherburne, assisted by Jason Olsgard (12 minutes); Mitch Cornelius, assisted by Ben Blair (13 minutes); Jason Olsgard, assisted by Mitch Cornelius and Ben Langholz (32 minutes); Jason Olsgard, assisted by Ben Langholz (33 minutes); Kellen Sherburne, assisted by Ben Langholz (35 minutes); Mitch Cornelius, assisted by Jackson Stalberger (40 minutes); and Andrew Casper, assisted by Logan Bauhs (44 minutes)The Vikings now have an overall record of 8 wins and 2 losses.

What a Crazy Story!

Who would have thought that the AP Assistant coach would have made up a story like this one? Check out the Waterloo Courier story about this incident. http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2006/05/06/news/metro/8e74c61b8bc11ca48625716600180e0d.txt