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ANOTHER HICCUP

CLEAR LAKE – Calling it a disaster may be a bit harsh, but there was little if anything to celebrate over the final 40 minutes of play for Webster City on the pitch on Tuesday.

And yet it was the first 40 minutes that had Lynx head coach Craig Signorin muttering to himself in the minutes following the final horn at Lions Field on a cold and dreary evening.

No. 5-ranked (Class 1A) Clear Lake withstood a barrage of scoring opportunities by No. 10 (2A) WCHS in the first half and held the rivalry match at nil, and then punched in a pair of second-half goals for a 2-0 victory.

The two halves couldn’t have been more different.

WCHS (9-2) – losers of back-to-back matches after starting the season with nine consecutive victories – constantly pressed forward in the first half and made Lions’ goalkeeper Jacob Hogan earn his keep, leading to a 5-1 edge in shots on goal.

Clear Lake (7-1) turned the tide following the intermission and kept the Lynx on their heels until the end. The Lions took nine more shots (12-3) and had four more on target (6-2).

“The first 40 (minutes) we were most definitely the better team and in the second 40 they were the better team,” WCHS head coach Craig Signorin said. “The only thing is they scored two goals when they were the better team and we didn’t score any.”

But WCHS had its chances.

On three separate occasions, Lynx senior forward Seth Crouthamel got behind the Lions’ defense and had open looks at the net with only Hogan standing in the way. One opportunity sailed over the crossbar, while the other two went into Hogan’s waiting arms.

There were also a pair of free kick opportunities from just outside the goal box that were squandered. Esler Meija’s blast was blocked by the Clear Lake wall in the 20th minute and Demar Lemus’s floater went right to Hogan in the 37th minute.

“In this game, against a team like this, when you have good chances you’ve got to score,” Signorin said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Ernie Miszewski, Clear Lake’s diminutive senior leader, took the wind out of the Lynx sails when he found the back of the net just 2 minutes, 58 seconds into the second half to put the Lions ahead to stay.

A beauty of a pass from Jack Finn on the right flank found a streaking Miszewski, who got behind the Lynx defense for just a second, but that’s all he needed. Miszewski – 10th in the state with 16 goals – flicked a low shot that trickled inside the right post for the 1-0 advantage.

“He had one good chance and he made it,” Signorin said of Miszewski. “You give him a chance and he’s going to make it. We have guys like that on this team, but we’re just not doing it right now.”

Clear Lake continued to move forward after the initial goal and maintained possession for the majority of the half.

The Lions got the insurance goal they yearned for with 7:23 remaining. Miszewski had a slew of defenders in front of him, yet still managed to find a wide open Jarod Anderson on a cross. WCHS goalkeeper Ashton High was a sitting duck and had no chance as Anderson rifled the ball over his head and into the upper 90 on the right from close range.

High finished with five saves. Hogan collected seven.

“We’ve got some young guys back there who are inexperienced, but there’s still no excuse to give up two easy goals,” Signorin said.

Signorin didn’t bite when asked if the absence of injured junior Connor Foster – the quarterback of the Lynx defense – has played a role in the team’s recent struggles. Foster is expected to miss another week or two while he recuperates from a foot injury.

WCHS has now gone more than 161 minutes of match time without a goal and it won’t get much easier this evening when the squad welcomes Boone (6-4) to Lynx Field for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff. Then it’s on to the Waverly-Shell Rock tournament on Saturday where the Lynx could again run into Clear Lake or possibly the fourth-ranked Go-Hawks.

WCHS and Clear Lake will meet again at Lynx Field on Tuesday, May 19.

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