Cyclones earn eighth win of the season over Vikings

After missing a few games, Cyclone Junior Aubrey Schwieso returned to the lineup Tuesday at home against the AHSTW Vikings, scoring three goals to help lead the HCHS Cyclones girls soccer team to a 7-1 victory.

“It was exciting to get back out there,” Schwieso said. “I was itching to get back out there after watching the past couple of games. I think we put a lot of really good passes together which we haven’t done in a while and we needed to get our spirits up, and I think this one helped. We had a lot of fun.”

Schwieso scored the first goal just over five minutes into the game, putting the Cyclones up 1-0, followed by another goal less than 10 minutes later, making it 2-0.

Two more Cyclones got in on the action minutes later, when Sophomore Kassie Anderson scored her first goal of the game, and second of the season, followed by a goal from Junior Kayla Anderson, putting the Cyclones up 4-0.

“It’s nice to have multiple people that can score,” said Cyclone Head Coach Jared Boysen. “It was good to see Kassie score. She was in the right spot at the right time. We tried to get it at the top of the box there. She found that spot, we got it to her, and she was able to finish on that.”

The remainder of the first half was quiet on both sides offensively with the Cyclones taking a 4-0 lead into halftime.

“We needed to not get complacent, and to keep doing what we were doing,” Boysen said. “I thought we did a great job of passing. We had more time, but we were working together well and we were with the wind. Just come out and do the same thing the second half and not let up. I think we did that for the most part.”

The Cyclone offense continued to dominate in the second half with Schwieso scoring her third goal of the night less than a minute into the action. A few minutes later, after playing goalkeeper the entire first half, Senior Hailey Good scored her first goal of the night and seventh of the season.

Not long after Good’s goal, Sophomore Carly Torneten found the net, putting the Cyclones up 7-0, which would be their final goal of the game. Sophomore Viking Halle Goodman got her team on the board approaching the halfway mark of the second half, but the Cyclones won easily 7-1, moving their record to 8-7 on the season. The Vikings fall to 1-11.

The Cyclones next game will be on the road Monday at 5 p.m. against the 2-7 Creston Panthers for their regular season finale.

“At the end of the season, we’ve got to have some confidence,” Schwieso said. “Any win it matters a lot to keep us going and keep our spirits up. I think it’s a good little break for us because we have a big week next week and we’re excited to keep going.”

For the Vikings, their regular season has concluded. They will open up Regional play in the Class 1A – Region 6 Game starting at home Monday at 7 p.m. against the 0-10 Greene County Rams. The Rams are led by Esther Van Horn with one goal and Lucy Vander Linden with 137 saves.