Dyersville Beckman off to a confident start at state

DES MOINES - Headed into the state soccer tournament, Dyersville Beckman had its eyes set firmly on making up for recent frustrating history.

If Thursday's quarterfinal match against Danville is any indication, not much is going to be capable of moving the No. 1-seed Blazers away from that vision. Beckman took a 1-1 halftime score and turned it into a 4-1 victory, and will advance to play Gladbrook-Reinbeck in the semifinals.

All things considered, it was certainly the way the experienced group wanted to get their tournament started.

'You're always looking for the first good win. It gives you confidence going forward,” said Coach Mirek Laskowski. 'I have confidence, but my boys, my players, they picked up a lot of confidence from this game. So we should be in really good shape. We're looking forward to getting right back at it.”

The confidence comes from the way the team played in the second half, more so than in the first.

Junior Carter Gassman got Beckman on the board first at 4:02 of the first half, but nearly 22 minutes later Danville was able to even the score on a free kick. The Bears' Mason Speer took the cross pass off his chest and put it in goal.

The lack of communication on that play and the mistake from keeper Trent Westhoff by not coming out to grab the cross in the air - one of the very few he's made this season - left the Blazers a bit shaken and served as a wake-up call.

A missed penalty kick just before halftime also lit the fire under them, and the combination provided much of the fuel for the three-goal second half.

'We fell asleep a little bit with our defense and allowed an easy cross on the free kick,” Laskowski said. 'I think we can fix these problems, because the second half was totally us. No shots from Danville and we were using our skills and passing to control the game. We wore them out and it worked out very well.”

Beckman's second leading scorer and junior Dillon Keegan had the final two goals in the game, sealing the win in the second half. His first came at 48:37, the second at 68:47. His were preceded by senior Billy Hoffman, who had what turned out to be the game winner just 3:02 into the second half.

Hoffman said the second half was much more how they have and want to play. The Blazers dominated possession and controlled the ball at will. When the Bears did have the ball, the Beckman defense swarmed the ball and kept Danville from getting a single shot on goal in the final 40 minutes.

As Laskowski said, the players can glean a lot of confidence from a game like this, but Hoffman said there's certainly a risk of being too confident.

'We've got a lot of confidence right now, but sometimes too much confidence can be a bad thing,” Hoffman said. 'We've got to stay true to ourselves. We can't be too cocky or it'll come back and bite us.

'It's a double-edged sword. Too much confidence is a bad thing, but just the right amount is perfect. It'll really help us get to where we want to be.”

Beckman plays No. 4-seed Gladbrook-Reinbeck on Friday at noon on Field 9 at Cownie Soccer Park.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com