WELLMAN

A comeback was not out of reach but with little time left in regulation the Golden Hawk’s hope of victory seemed less certain with every passing second. 

“You’re down 0-1 with about 20 minutes left, you feel a little anxious, nervous and the bench got kind of quiet there for a while,” Mid-Prairie boys soccer head coach Wyatt Cady said.

Coming down to nine minutes left the visiting Prince of Peace Irish still held a slim 1-0 lead over Mid-Prairie. 

Not backing down, the Hawks found the shot in the arm they were looking for when Peyton Fox scored an equalizer off a cross from Tucker Miller. 

“Putting that first goal in the back of the net and you just saw everybody just jump up, get fired up,” coach Cady said. “It’s just kind of the moment they’ve been waiting for all year, especially at home.”

With only 50 seconds left overtime was looming but Drake Price had other plans. Off a pass from Daniel Rodgers, Price scored the game winning goal and Mid-Prairie completed the comeback, defeating Prince of Peace, 2-1 on May 3. 

“That was just a great goal,” Fox said about Price’s goal. “I was jumping up and down with excitement because I realized we’re up 2-1 with less than a minute left. I got to give credit to Drake on that shot. It was just beautiful.”

Both sides gave it their all. There was a fiery and competitive atmosphere on the pitch, and this was evident by a Prince of Peace player receiving a red card and a spectator being kicked out of the game. 

In the first half even though, Mid-Prairie had more shots on goal it was Prince of Peace who found the back of the net with 4 minutes left to go until halftime. 

Their lead held until Fox, a sophomore in his first year playing soccer, scored the game tying goal. 

“I’m just there to crash the box. I’m one of the faster ones on the team, so the coaches just tell me: crash, crash, crash,” Fox said about his goal. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt more excitement from a goal. Teammates were there to support, and we all were yelling and excited.”

On defense Mid-Prairie goalkeeper Joe Hall was once again a difference maker for the Hawks, only allowing one goal and finishing the game with five saves in total. 

“That’s just Joe Hall.” coach Cady said about the Mid-Prairie senior goalie. “He’s just that good of a goalie. Just natural at that. I think a lot of that comes from his baseball background.” 

Mid-Prairie 3, Cascade 2

The excitement did not stop for the Golden Hawks, as they hosted the Cascade Cougars on senior night last Monday and overtime was needed to decide a winner.

Putting together back-to-back wins, Mid-Prairie found the back of the net in OT to defeat Cascade. 

The Cougars scored first in this contest to go into halftime with a one goal lead. Cascade doubled up their score in the second half, but the Hawks found the net twice, leading to a tie game. In OT, Mid-Prairie completed the comeback victory with a golden goal. 

Each scoring one goal for the Hawks were seniors Hugo Banuelos, Dylan Henry and sophomore Peyton Fox. Scoring the golden goal was Henry. Recording one assist each were seniors Drake Price, Tucker Miller, and Daniel Rodgers. 

Senior goalie Joe Hall ended the game with eight saves. 

Before the game Mid-Prairie honored its seniors: Henry, Banuelos, Price, Miller, Rodgers, Hall, Beau Flynn, Sawyer Hough, Drew Schlabaugh, Jackson Miller, Jacob Carillo, and Anthony Culbertson. 

Up next for Mid-Prairie (8-5) is a road game against the Bellevue Comets (4-9) on May 10.