Birthday boy Cady guides Mid-Prairie to semis

DES MOINES — Mid-Prairie senior Wyatt Cady gave himself one heck of a birthday present Thursday at the boys' state soccer tournament in Des Moines at the Cownie Soccer Complex.

The Golden Hawks captain had two goals and added an assist as the birthday boy, guiding No. 4 Mid-Prairie (16-2) to a 6-1 demolition of No. 7 Oakland Riverside in the Class 1A quarterfinals.

'It's the best feeling ever,' Cady said. 'I kind of knew it would be (a big day). We've had two other birthday kids this year, and they both scored on their birthday. So I kind of had a good feeling. I just kind of went with it.'

In addition to having his teammates congratulate him, the senior forward had his dad, head coach Pat Cady, on the sidelines.

Pat was clearly proud of Wyatt, but — with the outcome of the game still on his mind — jokingly said his son could've had a third goal that slipped away. It was the perfect way for father, son and team to get the state tournament started the right way.

'I think I was still coaching, because Riverside was trying to build some momentum, and you want to get that momentum shut down and want to keep the guys scoring. I think at one point he might've almost had a third goal, it didn't cross the line, maybe somebody didn't finish it,' Pat Cady said. 'But what an awesome birthday present for a kid. He made second team all-state last year and maybe he can actually have a good tournament and make the all-tournament team. Maybe these two goals will help him get to that point, too.'

Both Pat and Wyatt pointed to the speed of the Golden Hawks as the reason the outcome ended up so lopsided.

Wyatt said Mid-Prairie possessed the ball much better than Oakland Riverside (16-3), but their speed won out on the end. Quickness isn't necessarily the first thing opponents expect against the Golden Hawks, and they've been able to take advantage.

'(Oakland Riverside) applied high pressure,' Pat said. 'I think a lot of teams underestimate how fast we are. We try to use that speed to our advantage. If we can beat the offsides trap and send either Nick (Stimson, who had a goal and two assists) or Wyatt with the ball, usually we're going to get a goal.'

Mid-Prairie got goals from four different players. In addition to Wyatt's two goals — the first at 30:22 in the first half, the second at 29:50 in the second half — leading scorer Austin Errthum had a goal at 15:40 in the first and Stimson at 14:06 in the first. Oakland Riverside's Tanner Ford got the lone Bulldog goal at 37:01 in the first half.

But it was senior midfielder Dayton Hall's goal just 2:05 into the game that sent the message Mid-Prairie wasn't fooling around. Pat Cady said that goal allowed the Golden Hawks to dictate the tempo and play the way they wanted. Hall added a second goal at 16:49 in the first.

'Any time you can knock a goal in early, it completely changes the game for the other team,' Pat said. 'So that's one thing we discussed; we can't let down, we've got to play like we did when we played Albia (in the substate final). We need to go out and get up early, and that will allow us to play the style of soccer we want to play.'

The lopsided victory also allowed Mid-Prairie to rest key members of the team in preparation for a semifinal matchup with No. 1 Dyersville Beckman on Friday at noon.

'I definitely like the way it worked out today. Because that gives kids a good taste of what it takes,' Pat said. 'Any time you can get 22 members of your team into the game with at least 10 minutes left in the game, it's a good education that's going to build for (Friday).'

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