A start to get excited about

By Andy Davis - News Republic

Baraboo boys soccer coach Greg Riddell expected his offense to lead his team to a win on Tuesday, but he didn't expect them to look this sharp in just their first game of the season.

Led by sophomore forward Kody Mjelde's two goals, the Thunderbirds took control of the game early and never gave Fort Atkinson a chance to get back into it for a 4-0 win.

Baraboo's offense was crisp, making perfect passes and finding creases in the defense. It resulted in several scoring opportunities, and the T-Birds could have easily finished with six or seven goals if the ball had bounced a little different.

It was enough to make the team wonder just what they are capable of this year.

"I'm super excited," Mjelde said after the game. "We knew we were going to be good, but we're just looking awesome right now."

Mjelde scored the first two goals of the game to get Baraboo off to a good start.

His first came at the 11:55 mark when he got the ball on the left side of the goal and left-footed it into the opposite corner, past the keeper. Mjelde was assisted by Jason Krunnfusz on the play.

The rest of the first half went by without a goal for either side, though the Thunderbirds had nearly all the chances to change that.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Mjelde got his second score.

Taking a pass from James D'Amour, Mjelde got about 15 yards away from the goal, forcing the keeper to come out. When he came out, Mjelde punched a shot over his head for a 2-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Louis Ayensu-Mensah dribbled through the Fort Atkinson defense and popped a shot that the goal keeper got a hand on, but that still managed to find the net to make it 3-0.

Thirteen minutes into the second half, the Thunderbirds finished off the scoring with a goal by another sophomore, Anthony Hoeschele. With an assist from Curtis Helbing, Hoeschele got a shot off while being defended by a pair of Fort Atkinson players that found the net in the opposite corner.

"I think we were faster than them, but we moved the ball phenomenally today," Riddell said. "When we had our scrimmage against the alumni, we always wanted to go, go, go. Today, we slowed down a little and let things come to us."

While the offense was carving up the Fort defense, Baraboo's defense made pitching a shutout look easy.

To Riddell, that was the best part of the game.

"I told the guys I'm more impressed with the zero than the four," Riddell said. "This year, I'm not exactly sure what our defense is going to do but I'm confident in our offense."

The Thunderbirds lost a lot of defensive players to graduation, and they're also pretty thin in the defensive ranks.

The few players who are strictly defensive specialists are relatively young and inexperienced at the varsity level, as a whole.

Riddell said the communication in Tuesday's game was the reason his defense was able to keep the shutout intact for goal keeper Andrew Ford.

Riddell, who attended Fort Atkinson High School, said he wore Fort Atkinson T-shirts to practice for the past week and told his team he'd burn one of them if the Thunderbirds won the game."

After seeing the way his team played, he decided to make it two shirts.

The T-Birds have a stiffer challenge coming up Thursday, when they play a road game against Oregon.

Scoring

First Half

B — Mjelde (Krunnfusz), 11:55.

Second Half

B — Mjelde (D'Amour), 41:34.

B — Ayensu-Mensah, 44:38.

B — Hoeschele (Helbing), 53:39.