ADM’s boys and girls soccer squads were in action Thursday night, and they provide us with a classic case of a little good and a little bad.
The ADM boys pulled off a hard fought victory on the road over Newton, defeating the Cardinals 2-1 in overtime.
According to the scoring summary from head coach Bill Shields, the contest was “a close, fast-paced affair” throughout regulation and extended time. The game was tied 0-0 at halftime.
Then after intermission, ADM opened up the scoring eight minutes into the second half when Robby Sloss slipped past a defender to play a brilliant pass to a streaking Jake Hutzell. Hutzell outdistanced his defender and struck home the game’s first goal into the far corner of the net.
After the Tigers enjoyed much of the possession in the second half, a defensive miscue allowed Newton to tie the game at one in the 71st minute.
In overtime though, ADM would answer, as Noah Bardwell lobbed a pass over the Newton defense to the ultra-quick Johnny Reel, who beat the Cardinals’ goalkeeper to the ball and drove his shot into an empty net for the win.
Shields called his team a “deserved winner” after the match, and with the win the ADM boys are now 6-5-1 on the season. 
Moving on to the ADM/Van Meter girls, unfortunately the result was something the Tigers haven’t experienced all season, as they lost their first game of the year, 2-1, to rival DC-G.
Head coach Kelsey Dolder says the loss was a tough one for her team, who played brilliant soccer in the first half to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. After intermission though, it was DC-G who found the back of the net twice to pull out the win in Adel.
Coach Dolder explains the difference between the two halves for her Tigers.
“We came out lights out in the first half, connecting passes around DC-G, winning every 50/50 ball… we just had so much energy and just so much desire to win that game, and then I think a lot of our energy was wasted in the first half. A lot of girls didn’t have much left in the tank in the second half, DC-G switched things up and we just didn’t quite adjust.”
The ADM/Van Meter girls are now 7-1 on the season. They’ll be back on the pitch a couple times in the week ahead, taking on Boone Monday and Winterset on Thursday. Both matches will be on the road.