Decorah Opened Double Header Against Independence

DECORAH, Iowa – The Decorah Boys Soccer team opened a double header Monday afternoon, facing off against the Mustangs of Independence. After five minutes of regulation, sophomore midfielder Liam Huang found the back of the net on a long cross-field shot. The goal was Huang's first of the season, and it gave Decorah a comfortable starting position as the match unfolded. Looking for their first win of the season after facing several formidable opponents, the Vikings scored two first-half goals in route to an 8-1 victory. The second goal arrived with less than two minutes left in the half. Freshman midfielder Oak Pasche took a long shot well outside the box. The wind caught it (almost) perfectly, as the ball hit the bottom side of the crossbar and bounced on the ground in front of Viking forward Riley Berns, who attempted to head it into the goal. The keeper got a hand on it, but sent it back to Berns. The game of pattycake between Berns and the keeper resulted in Berns's first goal of the season, as he touched the ball into the goal with the inside of his right foot. In the second half, the Vikings had the wind at their back, and they took full advantage of Mother Nature's predilection for the spring westerly breeze. While Decorah had two corner kicks in the first half, they garnered over ten in the second. One of those resulted in the third goal of the match, as Pasche—the go-to corner kicker—found the tallest player on the field: center back Noah Milburn, who came up from his position on defense for the sole purpose of heading the ball in off these corner kicks. Pasche floated the ball perfectly into the air where only Milburn could get a head on it. Fans were treated to a good chuckle as the chest-bump celebration between Milburn (biggest person on the field) and Pasche (perhaps the smallest person on the field) resulted in Pasche on the ground. But the midfielder popped right back up with a smile on his face, indicating all was okay. Joining Huang, Riley Berns, and Milburn in the scoring efforts were Will Larson (2 goals on the game), Reid Berns (1), Brayan Ortiz Gonzalez (1), and Caden Malanaphy (1), who scored the last goal on a penalty kick. The Vikings move to 1-5-1 and play their next game at Postville Tuesday, April 15, 5:00 p.m.