Comet kickers go the distance in 11-1 loss to Vikings

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

DECORAH — After a long wee-morning walk along the curiously deserted streets of Philadelphia, Rocky confided with Adrian that he merely wanted to “go the distance” against overwhelming favorite Apollo Creed.

For last Friday’s Northeast Iowa Conference boys soccer match, the hosting Decorah Vikings were overwhelming favorites against Charles City. And after Decorah took a 4-1 lead at the half, the question really wasn’t whether the Comets were going to stage a comeback — but rather if they can manage to “go the distance”.

High school soccer usually employs a “mercy rule” that stops a match once a team attains a 10-goal advantage. That seemed imminent going into the second half with the Vikings now having a persistent 15 to 20-mile per hour wind at their back for the remainder of the game.

Taking an 11-1 lead with more than seven minutes remaining in regulation, Decorah was poised to end it early. But the Comets were able to hold off subsequent Viking forays deep into their zone and managed to brave the wind face-first for some scoring threats of their own before losing by the aforementioned score when time expired.

Senior forward Jeramiah Rediske and sophomore forward Ian Giddings each found the net multiple times for the Vikings.

Perhaps the biggest menace for the Comets was Viking senior Trey McCain. The diminutive forward/midfielder put on a clinic with his deft passes, sneaky ball-tackle steals, and a four-way crossover dribble (left, right, forward, back).

When McCain went down with an injury late in the second half, the Vikings were held scoreless for the rest of the match.

In the first half with the wind at their back, the Comets threatened to open the scoring on numerous occasions. When Charles City junior Carter Haberkorn scored his third goal of the season, it pulled the Comets within a goal of the Vikings (2-1) with more than 25 minutes remaining in the half.

The physical play of senior fullback Alex Haus and sophomore fullback Preston Banks, as well as the daring mobility of sophomore keeper Sullivan Gerleman who often ventured more than 25 yards from the goal to confront frequent wide-open fastbreak pushes upfield by the Vikings, helped the Comets play a full 80 minutes — stoppage time be damned.

The Vikings improved to 5-2; the Comets fell to 0-5 ahead of Monday’s away match against Postville.