The field was covered in tornado debris mere hours before kickoff. After working as a team to clear the field, it was time to play. With many first-time soccer players and not much time to practice, the odds were stacked against the Ravens. 

Despite this, the Ravens took a commanding 3-1 win over the Cedar Valley Huskies in their season opener. 

Hillcrest freshman Rowan Miller, who is new to soccer, impressed, first by drawing a penalty against Cedar Valley’s goaltender while making an aggressive push to the net. Senior captain, Grant Bender, took the penalty shot and scored the first goal of the game, 11:25 minutes in. Bender took a deceptive left corner shot that fooled the Huskie goaltender, springing to the right-side of the net. 

“Grant [Bender], you expect him to do well,” Hillcrest head coach, Marcus Miller, said. “Bender just did a nice job defensively.” 

Miller continued his impressive game by breaking past the Huskie defense and scoring the first goal of the second half, 13:27 in, to make the score 2-1. Despite being his first game, Miller looked experienced, finding multiple shots, and breaking free more than once to create chances for the Ravens.

After Miller’s lead-snatching goal, Cedar Valley played a much tighter game defensively, keeping the ball on the Ravens side of the field, forcing numerous turnovers and mistakes from the young Raven flock. Yet, Cedar Valley only managed two shots on goal as the game turned into a constant back-and-forth throw-in contest. The Ravens easily outshot the Huskies, in offensive spurts, with 18 shots, ten of which on goal. 

After seven minutes of both teams trading throw-in attempts, sophomore Seth Ours, created some padding in the Raven lead, racing past the Huskies with newfound energy, kicking a bullet past the goalie to give the Ravens a 3-1 lead. This came with exactly 20 minutes left and would be the final goal of the night. 

The Ravens fell down numerous times in this game, victims of cramps. Coach Miller believes this is a learning experience for the young team.

“I like to think [clearing the tornado debris] contributed to the cramping because, I’m sure some of these guys didn’t drink enough water out there,” Miller said. “We learned we have to drink more fluids, and so, it’s just something simple like that.”

Weather has been an issue, obviously. But also, scheduling has been another issue. Things like spring break have hindered the Ravens ability to hold practice before the season opener. Coach Miller hopes to see improvement throughout the season and having more stable weather and scheduling will aid improvement.

“I think this is the least experienced team I’ve had since my second year of coaching. We only have two seniors and so, lots of inexperience,” Miller said. “We have a lot to work on, but you know, we have a nice nucleus back at the defensive end, which really helps out our goalie.”

Speaking of goalie sophomore, Kyle Neuschwander, it was his first go as goalie. Neuschwander did not see much action but got his feet wet. He saw just two shots, allowing the first one to hit the back of the net and then stopping the second one with great effort. 

It is all about gaining experience that is essential for Raven success. Their next game will be against the Wapello Indians on Thursday, Apr. 13, at Wapello.