Boys Varsity Soccer Vs Norwalk

Lily Fleming, Staff Writer
April 29, 2022

Grant Strickler ‘23 on defense jumps into a kick in, passing the ball to his teammates.
(Lily Fleming)
The team runs through the game traditions: Pledge of Allegiance, announcing the team member names, and so on before kicking off the start of the match. (Lily Fleming)
Logan Becker ’22 (right) pushes towards the ball, just behind Norwalk player Caden Endres. The two midfielders seemed to feud all throughout the game.
(Lily Fleming)
Taevian Pope ‘23 (right) watches downfield, moving accordingly.
(Lily Fleming)
All eyes are on the ball for Kody Ngo ‘23, bracing to execute a header after Colin Shermer ‘22 throws in the ball. (Lily Fleming)
Offensive Norwalk player launches in front of Logan Becker ‘22 during the second half of the game. (Lily Fleming)
Wilmont Manneh ’22, or “Willy” as you’ll hear on the field, falls back and gets twisted with the goalkeeper as he scores a goal. (Lily Fleming)
Will Sheeley ‘22 and field number 22 runs to the sidelines, grinning after scoring a goal, the Dragons trail behind. (Lily Fleming)
Sheeley does a victory dance on the sidelines, teammates still following closely behind. One of Norwalk’s coaches was less enthusiastic about the dance, he fumed, “He can do the dance, just not in front of the bench.” (Lily Fleming)
The team launches into the air, defending their goal from the ball during penalty kick. (Lily Fleming)
Pictured from left to right: Mateo Munguia, Grant Strickler, Tyler Hannon, and David Myers watch the ball get height and fall from their assembled positions. (Lily Fleming)
Cooper Vercauteren ’22 runs in at halftime as some teammates make their way down the field to go through drills. (Lily Fleming)
With two goals in a row, Will Sheeley ‘22 runs back to the sidelines and does his familiar victory dance. The announcer jokes along the lines, “A second goal from captain dance moves.” (Lily Fleming)
The Dragons laugh and grin as Will Sheeley ’22 dances. (Lily Fleming)
Wilmont Manneh ‘22, Grant Strickler ‘23, Colin Shermer ‘22, and Colby Davis ‘23 celebrate another goal. Johnston defeated Norwalk 4-1. (Lily Fleming)

Boys soccer athletes sustained their success of the season April 21, defeating Norwalk 4-1. The match marked their tenth game thus far, presuming an undefeated winning streak. Since the game, varsity Dragons have played two matches, losing to Hoover 1-2 and beating SouthEast Polk 2-1. 

All five of the total goals in the Johnston Vs Norwalk game were scored within the second half of the game. Johnston received two yellow cards, but boasted a 100% shot on goal and shot percentage. Three saves were made, each by the goalkeeper TJ Strang ’22.

While not technically undefeated this season, the boys have made an undeniably strong performance, with more to come. Over the buzz of the Fight Song after triumphing over Norwalk, Cooper Vercauteren ‘23 said, “I think we’ve played really good, there’s definitely areas we can improve in, but I think we’ve set ourselves up for success in the postseason.” 

On teams who may be tougher competition Vercauteren continued, “Ankeny’s looking pretty good, they got a new transfer, he’s pretty good. Valley’s always gonna be tough, but yeah I’d say Valley and Ankeny are probably our top two.” said Vercauteren. The Dragons are set to play West Des Moines Valley May 3 and Ankeny May 6, but you can see them play their next match against Urbandale on April 29.