Class 1A No. 6 Sioux City Heelan capitalized on four first-half goals with the wind to hand Thomas Jefferson girls soccer its first loss of the season 6-1 at Gale Wickersham Stadium.
For the fourth time this season the Yellow Jackets, who were missing four of their starters in this game, played against the wind in the first half. After the first 20 minutes, the Crusaders got on the board 1-0 and would find the back of the net three more times before the end of the half.
Yellow Jackets coach Mark Royer says the wind proved to be another tough opponent as the game went on.
“We expended so much energy running against the wind, ” Royer said. “Going against the wind through the whole first half and trying to keep Heelan at bay in the process, grew tiring fast and we just didn’t have much left in the second half. When you get down three or four to zero before halftime it’s just a lot to come back from. When you play against that kind of wind first it can really put you at a disadvantage.”
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Rukhshana Muidinzoda scored the lone goal for the Yellow Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets now fall to 3-1 after their first defeat. While the Jackets are disappointed about the loss, Royer is proud of the team’s reaction and how they’re already looking to improve after this game.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” Royer said. “I told the girls to just self-assess after this game and the conversation they had was great to see. No one was aggressively pointing fingers at anyone, but everyone was holding themselves accountable and I was very pleased with these girls’ maturity. These girls are special and I’m excited to see how we move forward.”
Thomas Jefferson returns to the field on Thursday when they take on Missouri Valley in Missouri Valley at 5 p.m.
Sioux City Heelan (2-2) 4 2 – 6
Thomas Jefferson (3-1) 0 1 – 1
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