2A Soccer - Pre Season

[G-TownTiger**]

1. Xavier, they always reload
2. Dubuque - Walhart - always reload
3. Norwalk - they play such a hard regular season schedule, by the time they get state it’s a cake walk for them until the final
4. Pella - only lost about 3 starts, they should be hungry, they have crashed out of sub state for the last few years.
5. Grinnell - should start the year ranked fairly high, however, their 2 best players will not be returning this year. However, being from Grinnell, they have a lot of good underclassman.
6. ADM - Bill always has the boys ready to play
7. Spirit Lake - We'll see how they do without their # one goal scorer
8. Glenwood - has been in the mix the last couple of year, and probably will be again.
9. Decorah - they have a great local program that's producing good players in every class.
10. Clear Creek - we'll give them the benefit of the doubt that last season wasn't luck

 

[\/\/arriorSoccer]

What happened to Zubeen Azaari [sp?] from Spirit Lake? Is that who you were referring to?

Anyone have any insight on DCG, Harlan, Denison-Schleswig, Perry, or Fort Madison?

Knoxville? Wasn't Dylan Schrader a senior? He scored 30 some goals last year and Knoxville knocked off the Dutch in substate.

Waverly was pretty solid last year. Piled up a ton of wins. Seems like they have good things going on in Waverly in all sports.

 

[JDS0202]

Not sure who G Town is referring to, but Zubeen is a senior this year for Spirit Lake. They should be a solid team.

 

[\/\/arriorSoccer]

^^ That's what I was thinking. He was a solid player in the state tournament last year. Was the kid who broke his leg for Spirit Lake midway through the year a senior?

 

[stickman80]

Warrior, do you know if Norwalk/ADM are having (or had) their usual allowed 1 preseason scrimmage?

That is one of the things I like about these 2 school's athletic programs. Regardless of the sport and the fact at some point they usually have to deal with each other in the postseason, they do a good job of working together to make themselves better. I tend to get the impression these 2 schoosl have a great amount of mutual respect for each other.

You used to see more of this "common cause" effort going on between schools but unfortunately it's becoming more a thing of the past.

I assume that Norwalk will be playing on their turf this year but had one "Norwalkian" tell me they would not be. Is that true?

 

[\/\/arriorSoccer]

Norwalk hosts ADM in the preseason scrimmage tomorrow night @ Warrior Stadium. It will be on the turf. Finally, Norwalk can host teams on a regulation field. Nice and wide for once.

 

[Tornadomoney21]

Lakes Conference should have a great race. I could see Spencer winning it over the favorite Spirit Lake Indians, if Zubeen can be handled. Storm Lak'es got a nice team coming back this year, finished 1 and 1/2 games out of 1st in the Lakes last year, also their new kid from Houston who played with the U17 national team last year. Should be fun to watch.

 

[\/\/arriorSoccer]

For what it's worth, heard Norwalk handled ADM 3-1 in their preseason friendly last night. I wasn't there but heard Norwalk left several open opportunities on goal unfinished and controlled possession for nearly the entire scrimmage.

Any other friendly's take place last night?

 

[goCUI]

Not sure Pella and Grinnell should rank that high.

Pella lost 7 starters and a total of 10 off the varsity from last year. They do have some good speed and a couple of awfully good players back just not a lot of depth. Grinnell lost a pretty solid senior class as well.

 

[\/\/arriorSoccer]

I heard Norwalk beat Indianola 4-0 last night to open the season @ Warrior Stadium. They host Johnston on Tuesday.

 

[4_1A_2_Nv]

I am curious to hear if there are any eligibility issues regarding Pellas Pauly and Grinnells Sanchez. Are they allowed to train in a professional atmosphere with pro players and remain eligible for high school?

Also, did Pauly attend school while he played @ Derby? Just curious how the state may view potebtial cases like this in the future.

 

[ghost80]

Coaches poll also has Xavier #1. If they are reloading this year the magazine must still be fairly low with their 0-1-1 start with a tie against an unranked Pella and an 0-3 loss to a ranked 3A Bettendorf.

Coaches poll also has Norwalk at #2 in their preseason poll and right now at this early point of the season I don't know who I'd put over Norwalk. Between their schedule,coaching ability, and talent they could be the team to beat this year.

ADM went 3-0 over the weekend winning their tournament including a win over ranked 1A CBSA. According to QS they are suiting a lot of freshmen so they might be having experience issues themselves.

IMO this year will be the same as usual. Look for the teams with the killer schedules to be the ones still standing in the end.

 

[\/\/arriorSoccer]

It is my understanding that Xavier was missing half of their team. I was only able to watch their match vs Bettendorf before I had to leave. Their players looked to be mostly made up of Freshman/JV players. Most of their numbers didn't match the roster posted on QuikStats either.

They did still compete well with Pella who seemed to have a fairly solid squad.

 

[ghost80]

That could explain it Warrior.

My thoughts on early season tournaments are not to get too excited. Nobody wants to lose but they often provide the perfect opportunity for the coaches to get a nice long look at a lot of kids. That is especially true if you've got kids who are still a little lacking on conditioning.

Pella lost to Waukee but hey..there is normally no shame in losing to 3A Waukee. Lots of interest in soccer in Waukee and year in year out it shows.

 

[\/\/arriorSoccer]

I agree. There is value in an early season tournament. Let's you know where the bar is set. Kind of surprised to see 2 4A and 2 3A schools competing though in the Waukee Invite. Was hoping to see 4 4A's or 4 3A's. Either way though, the 3A schools get a great chance to prepare themselves for bigger games to come. Also lets you find the "right" players to fill voids of graduating seniors from last year.

I heard Pella looked night/day better in the 2nd round of games. Perhaps this was the competition? Definitely a chance to redeem themselves for letting in 6 goals.

Looks like ADM is off to a hot start. 4-0 after losing to Norwalk in the preseason scrimmage. Looks like they have 6 more games vs unranked teams. Then they meet 1A Nevada. Could be a good match if Nevada can keep Waldron quiet.

 

[\/\/arriorSoccer]

Looks like a solid win last night for Wahlert over Pleasant Valley 2-1.

Norwalk loses to 3A #4 Johnston 2-1 after striking first early in the match. Battled back and forth and came up a bit short.

 

[chiefsjwg]

DC-G knocking of Norwalk 1-0 in Norwalk last Thursday and Perry, another ranked opponent, 2-0 tonight. Playing well together. They still have games against ranked teams Pella and ADM in 2A, Waukee in 3A, and Nevada and Bondurant Farrar in 1A. New coach is making a big difference.

 

[meandmyshadow]

Current rankings for 2A and 1A:

2A -
1. Dub Wahlert
2. Xavier
3. Hudson
4. Spencer
5. DC Grimes
6. Norwalk
7. ADM
8. Pella
9. Glenwood
10. Spirit Lake\boji

1A -
1. Dyersville Cath
2. Regina
3. Solon
4. Columbus Catholic
5. Nevada
6. St.Albert, Council Bluffs
7. West Liberty
8. IMS
9. Bon Farrar
10. Pella Christian

 

[WaMaCeast]

Lot of Catholic schools doing well.

 

[stickman80]

Warrior, it looks like Nevada did a good job silencing Waldron but still lost to ADM 2-1 in OT. Waldron must have played because the box score has him credited for an assist.

ADM's big matchup comes this weekend against Ankeny. A win or at least a decent showing could lend them credibility in the second season.

Interesting matchup between Norwalk and Waukee tonight. That should be very entertaining futball.

 

[4_1A_2_Nv]

Norwalk 1
Waukee 0
FT

Goal by freshman Kevin Meinecke.

Very..very...very good match.

 

[goCUI]

Looking forward to some great matches in the next week or so... especially Norwalk at Pella on 5/8. Should determine the top seed in one sub-state. It will be interesting to see how the rankings change after some of the upcoming matches.