Winning one state title is really hard, two is even crazier, and on Saturday night, DCG girls soccer was aiming for rarified air in the state of Iowa when they were going for a three peat in the 2A championship game. Their opponent was the top seed in the North Polk Comets, who came into the match with only one loss and had only conceded twelve goals in the entire season. DCG flipped that narrative quickly, as they turn a hotly contested 1-1 game into the second half into a stunning five goal half and completed the historical run with a 6-1 victory.

DCG finishes their season with a 18-3 record while North Polk ends the year with a 19-2.

DCG and North went back and forth in a wild first half, with North Polk striking first with Abby Bell hammering home the first goal at 26:07, with the Comets enjoying the lead for the majority of the first half. Things changed at the 8:32 mark, as a long run by junior Landry Glasgow created a foul in the penalty box, which set up senior Kylie Knief to get her first goal of the night.

The first ten minutes of the second half were similar to the first half, with both teams missing near goal opportunities. That luck changed for the Mustangs at 29:44 when Glasgow was able to deliver her first goal, getting it through multiple defenders to make it 2-1. After a couple of Comet opportunities, DCG was really able to live in the North Polk getting chance after chance but couldn’t get it through. At 17:09, Glasgow changed that, as she lost her defender and then hit a missile past the keeper to make it 3-1. The floodgates opened after that, with senior Ella Forsyth making a creative goal to make it 4-1 at 13:15, leading scorer Kylie Knief scoring her second of the game at 5:51, and then sophomore Kenna Knief putting the cherry on top with a goal at 3:28.

The championship pedigree was on full display for the Mustangs, as they faced some challenges throughout the match, but were able to get through the various obstacles thrown at them and ultimately find success.

DCG will be losing ten seniors off of their roster in Olivia Cyr, Kalyn Mills, Addy Janssen, Kylie Knief, Sayler Ribich, Hannah Renz, Ella Forsyth, Mya Vongphasouk, Emma Beeman, and Emily Henigan.

This senior class was in the program that went to four state championship games, losing in 2021 to Waverly – Shell Rock, before getting their first state title in 2022 over Waverly – Shell Rock 2-0, beating Waverly – Shell Rock in the rubber match in 2023 2-0, then winning again this year.

The Mustangs went 73-12 over that four year stretch and were able to win three Little Hawkeye Conference championships and four regional championships in the process as well.

Despite losing some serious talent to graduation, many major players are projected back for next year as the Mustangs will look to reload and make another run. For now though, DCG is going to enjoy this for a little bit, as the DCG girls soccer team is the 2024 girls state soccer champions!