Cougars beat Winhawks in boys’ soccer home opener

by CHRIS ROGERS

The Winhawks boys’ soccer team fell 3-0 in its first game of the season last Saturday when it hosted the Mankato East High School Cougars. The Winhawks have lost some experienced players after last year’s squad made program history by advancing to the section final; however, this year’s young team will get a chance to grow and learn before the playoffs, Head Coach Oscar Uribe said.

The Cougars were aggressive in winning loose balls and controlled possession with calm passing throughout the first half. That paid off in the sixth minute when Mankato East’s Salman Ali dribbled deep into the Winhawk box and crossed the ball in front of the goal line to Christopher Swanson for a tap-in.

Twenty-three minutes in, Winona junior Olin Overhaug’s scoring chance gave the Winhawks a corner kick, but Mankato goalkeeper Owen Quist intercepted the centering attempt.

Winhawk junior Nyle Abdel-Magid facilitated counterattacks well in the midfield, dancing around pressure and springing Overhaug for another try that was defused by the Cougar defense.

A few minutes later, a defensive miscue allowed Cougar striker Abdikadir Ahmed to get in behind the defense in the box. Winhawks goalie Owen Ellefson came out to challenge, but Ahmed laid the ball across for Carson Stenzel, who put the Cougars up 2-0.

In the waning minutes of the first half, Mankato East kept testing Ellefson, who stopped a corner kick aimed at the near post and beat strikers to loose balls in the box. The Winhawks mounted a couple of dangerous attacks but missed their connections on the final crosses.

In the second half, the Winhawks showed more grit in battling for headers and beating the Cougars to contested long balls. Winona’s Diptanshu Roka ripped a quality shot off a free kick to the bottom corner of the net, but Quist turned it aside. On the other end of the pitch, Ellefson made a fingertip save on a Mankato East header. In the 58th minute, the Cougars’ Dailan Bangu scored on a breakaway to make it 3-0.

With Overhaug, Tyler Kelner, and Sergio Carrion pressing the attack, the Winhawks got deep inside the box a few times in the final minutes but, smothered by Cougars, couldn’t get a good shot off before the final whistle sounded.

“We have a lot of youth in our team, so I think we look really good for some of the players we have: … two ninth graders and one eighth grader that this is the first varsity game that they played. So it’s a lot of youth, but they did well,” Uribe said. He added, “I think we mishandled a couple situations on defense, where, if we just clear the ball [and] talk to each other, we’re in a good spot.”

Uribe praised Abdel-Magid, Kelner, and Roka, saying, “They played really well; they played really hard.” He also highlighted Carrion, an eighth grader playing against a Mankato East squad with 10 seniors. “He played the entire game. He played really hard. He made good decisions with the ball,” Winhawks coach said.

Looking ahead at the season, Uribe continued, “We don’t have a lot of players. We need to stay healthy. That would be the number one thing.” He joked, “The other thing would be is, like I told the boys, I love Minnesota because everyone makes the playoffs. It doesn’t matter what your regular [season] is. We just need to get better little by little and be ready to play in the playoffs.”

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