CL soccer boys tops three ranked teams

The Clear Lake boys soccer team moved up a spot in the rankings this week after topping three ranked teams and giving impressive performance at the highly-regarded Waverly-Shell Rock Tournament.  The Lions are now ranked fourth in Class 1A with a 8-2 record.  Their next match is Monday, May 18, at home against Mason City.  It will be Parent/Senior Night.

CL 2, Webster City 0

The Webster City Lynx came to Lions Field on May 5 sporting a 9-1 record with a number 10 in 2A ranking.  After 40 minutes of play, neither team had managed a goal.  

In the 43rd minute, Clear Lake’s Jack Finn made an attack to the right side of the field.  Finn cut it back across the middle making a great pass through the Lynx defense.  Ernie Miszewski jumped on the Finn assist, using a one touch to place the ball into the side of the net.  

In the 72nd minute of the contest, the Lions put together another great attack.  The Lions passed the ball seven times before finding Miszewski on the right side of the field.  Miszewski made a move past a Lynx defender and sent a crossing pass into the Lynx back line.  Jarod Anderson gathered the ball, placing it into the back of the net.  

The contest concluded with a Lions 2-0 victory.  

“The second half was our most complete half of the season,” said Clear Lake Coach Matt Anderson.  “We had good communication and great movement.  The defense and holding midfielders did a spectacular job of limiting the Lynx’s possession time.  We have a strong rivalry with Webster City as they were the dominate program when I began coaching.  It always good to get a win against them.  The second half of this match is the best I’ve seen in my four years of coaching the Lions.”

Waverly Tournament

On Saturday, the Lions traveled to Waverly for the Waverly-Shell Rock Tournament.  Clear Lake’s first match was against Albia, who is currently ranked 10th in Class 1A. 

Albia got on the board first with a quick goal in the seventh minute, but Ernie Miszewski finished an attack on goal in the 18th minute to even the score.  

“In the 27th minute of the first half Albia took a corner kick, placing the ball in front of the Lions’ net.  The ball took an unfortunate bounce and we scored a goal on ourselves,” explained Coach Anderson.  The bad bounce gave Albia a goal lead into the halftime break.  

Up 2-1, Albia decided to fall back into a defensive set determined to hold the lead for the last 30 minutes of the contest.  

“They did a pretty good job of keeping us off the score board until the 52nd minute of the contest,” said Coach Anderson.

Miszewski sent a ball into the keeper box, finding MJ Mixdorf, who finished the assist with a header goal to tie the score.  

The Lions had eight minutes left in the contest to get another goal.  Unable to get the needed score, the teams went directly to a shoot-out due to the tournament format.  Typically there would be two, 10-minute periods of sudden death overtime in a regular game.  The Lions pulled out the victory, scoring on all five shoot-out attempts taken by Miszewski, Jack Finn, Jarod Anderson, MJ Mixdorf and Tanner Berger.  

“We didn’t play our best soccer in this match.  We had 14 shots on their goal keeper and most of them the keeper didn’t even have to move his feet to stop the shot.  The guys were resilient and never let up.  Trying to score against a team who is just trying to hold onto a lead is not an easy task.  The guys got the goal just in time.  Winning the match in a shoot out is exciting and great experience as we move forward into the season,” said Anderson.

The Lions’ next match was against Glenwood, who is ranked number 11 in 2A.  

Jack Finn got Clear Lake on the board in the fourth minute of the match off an assist from Ernie Miszewski.  In the 15th minute of the contest, Glenwood evened the score off a corner kick.  The match was went into halftime even at a goal apiece.  

In the 40th minute of the match, Miszewski recorded his second assist when Tanner Berger finished it for a goal.  The final goal came off a shot by Sam Pedelty, which was deflected by the Glenwood keeper.  Berger collected the deflection and scored his second goal of the match.  The Lions victory concluded, 3-1.  

“We played more like ourselves in this match controlling the ball and limiting Glenwood’s opportunities,” said Coach Anderson. 

Clear Lake’s final match of the tournament was the championship game.  

“We made it to the championship game in the 2014 season, losing to Waverly Shell Rock in a shoot out,” explained Coach Anderson. “The goal of this 2015 season was to win the Waverly Tournament.  As luck would have