Veteran coaches anchor Beckman boys’ and girls’ soccer teams

DYERSVILLE — Consistency.

It’s what defines the Dyersville Beckman boys’ and girls’ soccer programs.

It’s the result of having continuity up top from two coaches who were instrumental in building the program’s foundation 20 years ago.

In 2005, soccer officially became a sport at Beckman. The program began as a co-ed team before splitting into separate boys’ and girls’ teams a year later.

Girls’ coach Greg Keegan was among the founding members of Beckman’s soccer program. He spent time as an assistant at the start — a few of those years on the boys’ side — before taking over as head coach of the girls’ team in 2010.

Keegan recorded his 150th career win as head coach on May 16 against Anamosa.

“It was very special,” Keegan said. “There aren’t too many programs that can say you pretty much averaged a 10-win season all the way through.”

Keegan’s Trailblazers are 10-3-2 and ranked 14th in Class 1A. Beckman has been top 15 in every iteration of the Iowa Girls’ High School Soccer Rankings in 2025.

“Alexie Hogan’s leading us in goals, and Paige Fangman’s right behind,” Keegan said. “Eva Rahe doesn’t have nearly the stats or the goals, but she does a nice job — so does Ava Burkle.”

As the 2-seed in 1A Region 1, Beckman opens postseason play Wednesday night, hosting MFL MarMac. Should the Trailblazers advance, they’ll likely meet Dubuque Wahlert in the semifinals — and No. 1 Denver in the finals.

“We can’t overlook Wahlert — two years ago we beat them in the Assumption tournament, then they returned the favor when it mattered,” Keegan said. “Denver is a very tough team. They pass well and are very well coached.”

Beckman left the Wamac to join the River Valley Conference in the 2022-23 school year and has dominated upon its arrival, winning back-to-back conference titles in 2023 and 2024. Keegan garnered RVC Coach of the Year honors in both seasons.

“We’ve been consistently at the top of the standings here in the River Valley since we joined,” Keegan said.

  Buy Photo

Having a history on both sides, Keegan sees plenty of parallels between Beckman’s boys’ and girls’ programs.

It starts with who’s at the helm.

“The truth of the matter is, the thing that mirrors it the most is that Mirek (Laskowski) was there ever since I was when the program started,” Keegan said. “We were assistant coaches when we started way back when, so the most consistent thing is probably him and I.”

Laskowski is in his 18th year as Beckman’s boys’ head coach.

“I was supposed to have retired in 2007 when my son (Mateusz) graduated,” Laskowski said with a chuckle. “I said when he graduates, I’m going to walk away … Then when I saw something was turning around and getting better, I said, ‘I will stay.’”

It turned out to be a wise choice.

Beckman’s made eight state tournament appearances — its first in 2010 and most recent in 2022 — with titles in 2015 and 2016.

The Trailblazers’ 2015 and 2016 championship runs remain unprecedented in Iowa high school soccer.

“The numbers were crazy,” Laskowski said. “We have an unbeaten streak of 47 games. Nobody has even touched that. I mean, if you get to 20, you’re good — but 47, come on. That’s a little ridiculous.”

The Trailblazers (9-3-2) have held the No. 10 ranking all season in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s poll, earning a postseason No. 2 seed.

“Carter Hageman has been supportive in helping our younger generation,” Laskowski said. “Cooper Klas is one of my best defenders. And Brady Salter-Ungs, he’s been a very vocal leader on the field.”

Senior Jake Schmidt leads the team with 17 goals.

“We’re pretty even across the board,” Laskowski said. “Very solid defense, great midfielders and good forwards.”

Beckman gets the winner of Marquette and Bellevue in the substate semifinals. A win would set up a potential rematch against No. 4 Iowa City Regina (12-3-3) for a state berth.

Beckman and Regina played to a 1-1 tie on April 16.

“It’s going to take teamwork and finishing what we’re creating on the field, converting for goals because that’s what gets you a ticket to the state tournament,” Laskowski said. “We have to be very consistent.”