2016:
Bobcats top blazer in 2ot
It always comes down to a hard-fought battle when the Western Dubuque Bobcats and Beckman Blazers meet on the soccer pitch. The girls did just that April 15, and the game went to overtime before the Bobcats’ Madison Simon slid one in during the second period for a 2-1 decision.
“This was a very well-matched rival game that Western Dubuque always comes ready to play,” said Beckman coach Greg Keegan.” I felt we matched their intensity and controlled the game early, getting five shots to their three in the first half. They scored first with Simon skirting by our defense on the left side and sliding it past Kylie (Bildstein). We were all just a little late getting to her and we didn’t step to her hard to disrupt her well enough to make her lose the ball.” The score was in the 23rd minute.
In the second half, the Blazers switched back to playing three forwards and “ it paid off. Ellie (Bildstein) was able to score off a pass from Tara (Hansel) in the 59th minute, “ added Keegan. “They both are just two fast and physical forwards that will be fun to watch as the season goes.”
Bildstein made all of her five saves in the second half to preserve the tie and force overtime. Both teams were scoreless in the first, forcing the decisive second. “On the scoring drive, Simon took advantage of a confusion concerning a downed Bobcat forward, and controlled the ball, scoring while colliding with the Beckman keeper, who sustained a concussion on the play. Our girls found out that you have to play until there is a whistle blown, and didn’t,” added Keegan.
Bobcat coach CeCe Zangara added, “This team is becoming a really clutch team. You can see it in their faces that they really want to win for each other.”
Blazer shots on goal came from Shannon Hoffman and Ellie Bildstein with four, Kristi Mensen and Frani McDermott one. Bobcat shots came from Chloe Baumgartner with six and Simon with three. Bobcat goalie Ireland Hill made five saves, as did Beckman’s Bildstein.
“This was a very well-matched rival game that Western Dubuque always comes ready to play,” said Beckman coach Greg Keegan.” I felt we matched their intensity and controlled the game early, getting five shots to their three in the first half. They scored first with Simon skirting by our defense on the left side and sliding it past Kylie (Bildstein). We were all just a little late getting to her and we didn’t step to her hard to disrupt her well enough to make her lose the ball.” The score was in the 23rd minute.
In the second half, the Blazers switched back to playing three forwards and “ it paid off. Ellie (Bildstein) was able to score off a pass from Tara (Hansel) in the 59th minute, “ added Keegan. “They both are just two fast and physical forwards that will be fun to watch as the season goes.”
Bildstein made all of her five saves in the second half to preserve the tie and force overtime. Both teams were scoreless in the first, forcing the decisive second. “On the scoring drive, Simon took advantage of a confusion concerning a downed Bobcat forward, and controlled the ball, scoring while colliding with the Beckman keeper, who sustained a concussion on the play. Our girls found out that you have to play until there is a whistle blown, and didn’t,” added Keegan.
Bobcat coach CeCe Zangara added, “This team is becoming a really clutch team. You can see it in their faces that they really want to win for each other.”
Blazer shots on goal came from Shannon Hoffman and Ellie Bildstein with four, Kristi Mensen and Frani McDermott one. Bobcat shots came from Chloe Baumgartner with six and Simon with three. Bobcat goalie Ireland Hill made five saves, as did Beckman’s Bildstein.
2015:
CP-U, Western Dubuque honors crash victims
EPWORTH – As much as sports can reflect and reveal personal character of those who are involved, and as much as they can teach us about life, they pale in comparison to human tragedy.
On Tuesday, April 14, five days after a tragic automobile accident claimed the lives of five young individuals and tore a hole in a community, the Center Point-Urbana girls’ soccer team traveled to Epworth to take the field against Western Dubuque.
The previous night, CP-U sported orange ribbons during a 9-0 home rout over Monticello. Orange was the favorite color of Triston Randall, the Center Point-Urbana senior who was lost in the April 9 crash. (Purple and green have since become the symbolic colors of the two youngest who were lost, Randall’s stepsiblings, Hunter Tuttle, 14, and Zooey Tuttle, 12).
For the Western Dubuque game, it was their opponents who organized a tribute to the victims, and to the community that has had to cope with the loss. Last summer, when the Western Dubuque school district was rocked by a similar tragedy that took the lives of four young boys, the community responded by creating T-shirts with the phrase “Bobcat Strong” on the front and images of four small angels holding hands with a bobcat, the school’s mascot, on the back.
On Tuesday, Western Dubuque wore the shirts during warm-ups to show solidarity with a community in pain, and many in the crowd wore them as well.
“It was very, very touching,” CP-U Co-Head Coach Rich Plante said. “We really appreciate her (Western Dubuque Head Coach Cecelia Sangara) doing that.”
It was a small, unasked-for gesture of human decency that Western Dubuque Head Coach Cecelia Sangara organized, and then checked with CP-U to make sure that it wouldn’t be too emotional for the girls on the team. After all, as poignant of a sentiment as it as was, a game still had to be played.
When it came that time. CP-U shut out the Bobcats 3-0 to improve to 3-0 on the season. The first goal came in the first few minutes of the game as junior Grayson Gifford dribbled down the right side and drilled the upper 90. After that, though, the Stormin’ Pointers offense was neutralized.
“From there, their defense shut us down, for the most part,” Plante said. “In the second half, we figured out what we needed to break them down from an offensive point of view.”
Junior Tessa Kohl added two goals in the second half to give the team some breathing room, and the Stormin’ Pointers came away with their third victory in a row.
On Friday, Randall, Hunter Tuttle and Zoey Tuttle will be cremated, along with their cousin, Quentin Ary, 19. The team won’t be able to attend their celebration of life, but, for their big game against conference rival Clear Creek Amana, each girl will be wearing three colored ribbons in her hair.
On Tuesday, April 14, five days after a tragic automobile accident claimed the lives of five young individuals and tore a hole in a community, the Center Point-Urbana girls’ soccer team traveled to Epworth to take the field against Western Dubuque.
The previous night, CP-U sported orange ribbons during a 9-0 home rout over Monticello. Orange was the favorite color of Triston Randall, the Center Point-Urbana senior who was lost in the April 9 crash. (Purple and green have since become the symbolic colors of the two youngest who were lost, Randall’s stepsiblings, Hunter Tuttle, 14, and Zooey Tuttle, 12).
For the Western Dubuque game, it was their opponents who organized a tribute to the victims, and to the community that has had to cope with the loss. Last summer, when the Western Dubuque school district was rocked by a similar tragedy that took the lives of four young boys, the community responded by creating T-shirts with the phrase “Bobcat Strong” on the front and images of four small angels holding hands with a bobcat, the school’s mascot, on the back.
On Tuesday, Western Dubuque wore the shirts during warm-ups to show solidarity with a community in pain, and many in the crowd wore them as well.
“It was very, very touching,” CP-U Co-Head Coach Rich Plante said. “We really appreciate her (Western Dubuque Head Coach Cecelia Sangara) doing that.”
It was a small, unasked-for gesture of human decency that Western Dubuque Head Coach Cecelia Sangara organized, and then checked with CP-U to make sure that it wouldn’t be too emotional for the girls on the team. After all, as poignant of a sentiment as it as was, a game still had to be played.
When it came that time. CP-U shut out the Bobcats 3-0 to improve to 3-0 on the season. The first goal came in the first few minutes of the game as junior Grayson Gifford dribbled down the right side and drilled the upper 90. After that, though, the Stormin’ Pointers offense was neutralized.
“From there, their defense shut us down, for the most part,” Plante said. “In the second half, we figured out what we needed to break them down from an offensive point of view.”
Junior Tessa Kohl added two goals in the second half to give the team some breathing room, and the Stormin’ Pointers came away with their third victory in a row.
On Friday, Randall, Hunter Tuttle and Zoey Tuttle will be cremated, along with their cousin, Quentin Ary, 19. The team won’t be able to attend their celebration of life, but, for their big game against conference rival Clear Creek Amana, each girl will be wearing three colored ribbons in her hair.
WD Rallies in second half to top beckman
EPWORTH, Iowa -- Western Dubuque was trailing by a goal and lacking any kind of offensive rhythm when it found the switch at halftime.
The Bobcats came out of the halftime break looking like a different team, and Madison Simon scored a pair of goals to rally Western Dubuque to a 3-1 victory over rival Dyersville Beckman on Friday at Buchman Field.
The Bobcats (2-2, 1-0 WaMaC Conference) have won three straight against their U.S. 20 rivals.
"Words can not describe how great of a feeling it is. I actually kind of have goosebumps talking about it," WD coach Cece Zangara said. "That first year we got the win it was kind of like, 'All right, we did it.' Now the third year it's kind of like, 'Wow, we're growing ladies.' It's just really nice to see the progression this team has made over the last three years."
Beckman (2-2, 0-1 WaMaC) clamped down on the Bobcats in the opening half and led, 1-0, at the break on Danielle Baumler's goal in the 26th minute.
Beckman outshot WD, 5-3, in the first half with a slim 2-1 shots on goal advantage.
The Bobcats erased the shot deficit in the first few minutes of the second half and finished the game with a 17-9 advantage. WD totaled seven shots on goal while the Trailblazers finished with three.
"First half I felt like we really controlled the game," Blazers coach Greg Keegan said. "After that, just a few things, we had a few breakdowns in the defense, things like that."
Simon first struck in the 52nd minute, getting behind the defense to beat Beckman goalkeeper Kylie Bildstein.
"Coach pepped us up today," Simon said. "This was our Kickin' Cancer night and she really wanted us to do good, so that's all we were playing for in our minds: kicking cancer's butt."
Simon used her speed again to beat the Beckman defense with just less than 20 minutes to play, putting the Bobcats in front, 2-1.
Bildstein was injured on the play when she rushed out to stop the shot. She came off the field with a hand to her eye and Keegan said afterward she was hit in the face by a cleat.
No foul was called.
"She went out hands first. It wasn't quite a textbook save, but she ended up getting cleats to the face," Keegan said. "She's probably got a three-quarter inch cut in her cheek, right below her eye."
Western Dubuque's Mikaela Armstrong capped the scoring with an insurance goal in the 75th minute, blasting a shot from just outside the penalty box past reserve keeper Jackie Olberding.
"The first half Beckman kind of dominated us," Zangara said. "We weren't playing our game, which our game is a ground game. We fixed what we needed to at halftime and they came back out and they played the ground game, which is Bobcat soccer. We do a good job when we can play our through balls and that's kind of how we dominated in the second half."
The game was Western Dubuque's cancer awareness fundraiser, Kickin' Cancer 2015.
"Both teams came together," Zangara said. "We raised $600 for the cancer society ... so, I just want to say great job to Beckman for supporting such a great cause, too."
The Bobcats came out of the halftime break looking like a different team, and Madison Simon scored a pair of goals to rally Western Dubuque to a 3-1 victory over rival Dyersville Beckman on Friday at Buchman Field.
The Bobcats (2-2, 1-0 WaMaC Conference) have won three straight against their U.S. 20 rivals.
"Words can not describe how great of a feeling it is. I actually kind of have goosebumps talking about it," WD coach Cece Zangara said. "That first year we got the win it was kind of like, 'All right, we did it.' Now the third year it's kind of like, 'Wow, we're growing ladies.' It's just really nice to see the progression this team has made over the last three years."
Beckman (2-2, 0-1 WaMaC) clamped down on the Bobcats in the opening half and led, 1-0, at the break on Danielle Baumler's goal in the 26th minute.
Beckman outshot WD, 5-3, in the first half with a slim 2-1 shots on goal advantage.
The Bobcats erased the shot deficit in the first few minutes of the second half and finished the game with a 17-9 advantage. WD totaled seven shots on goal while the Trailblazers finished with three.
"First half I felt like we really controlled the game," Blazers coach Greg Keegan said. "After that, just a few things, we had a few breakdowns in the defense, things like that."
Simon first struck in the 52nd minute, getting behind the defense to beat Beckman goalkeeper Kylie Bildstein.
"Coach pepped us up today," Simon said. "This was our Kickin' Cancer night and she really wanted us to do good, so that's all we were playing for in our minds: kicking cancer's butt."
Simon used her speed again to beat the Beckman defense with just less than 20 minutes to play, putting the Bobcats in front, 2-1.
Bildstein was injured on the play when she rushed out to stop the shot. She came off the field with a hand to her eye and Keegan said afterward she was hit in the face by a cleat.
No foul was called.
"She went out hands first. It wasn't quite a textbook save, but she ended up getting cleats to the face," Keegan said. "She's probably got a three-quarter inch cut in her cheek, right below her eye."
Western Dubuque's Mikaela Armstrong capped the scoring with an insurance goal in the 75th minute, blasting a shot from just outside the penalty box past reserve keeper Jackie Olberding.
"The first half Beckman kind of dominated us," Zangara said. "We weren't playing our game, which our game is a ground game. We fixed what we needed to at halftime and they came back out and they played the ground game, which is Bobcat soccer. We do a good job when we can play our through balls and that's kind of how we dominated in the second half."
The game was Western Dubuque's cancer awareness fundraiser, Kickin' Cancer 2015.
"Both teams came together," Zangara said. "We raised $600 for the cancer society ... so, I just want to say great job to Beckman for supporting such a great cause, too."