Rams open season with 2-0 win

The Glenwood boys soccer team overcame some early jitters and strong winds to post a 2-0 victory over Neola Tri-Center in the season opener for both teams.

“The wind was a big factor for both teams,” said Glenwood coach Mike Artist. “We had it in the first half and I don't think we took great advantage of it.”

The Rams got on the board first when forward Beau Johnson bent a shot around a four-man wall into the upper right corner of the net for the goal on a penalty kick from 30 yards out in the 21st minute.

“We saw he probably had a real good angle to do that from where their wall was and where the goalie was set up,” said Artist. “It was a great shot.”

After having the wind at their backs the first half, Glenwood handed it over in the second half but the result was the same. A goal by Joey Stivers with 25 minutes remaining in the game gave Glenwood the 2-0 lead and Artist substituted liberally throughout.

“We played well I thought,” said Artist. “We had good pressure but we didn’t play with a lot of quick energy. The field was a little more narrow than we like and the grass was short and with the wind the ball got away from us a little bit.

“But its a win and we’ll take it.”

In the junior varsity match Luke Ring scored a penalty kick for the Rams for the early 1-0 lead but the Trojans responded with six first half goals in a 7-1 win.

“They (Tri-Center) played a lot of the same guys on JV they did on varsity but they can do that,” said Artist. “They just out played us.”