Hawks shut out by No. 6 Nikes in SEISC semis

DONNELLSON – Soccer ultimately comes down to finding the net.
To win, at some point you have to find the net, and the Central Lee Hawks just couldn’t find that one final touch in a 3-0 loss to Class 2A No. 6 Burlington Notre Dame Friday night in the SEI Super Conference semifinal game in Donnellson.
“We just held one of the best teams, one of the toughest teams in the state, scoreless for 40 minutes. But we couldn't find the back of the net on our end,” said Hawks' Head Coach Justin Schau.
“We had great build up, we just couldn't freaking find the shot. And then when we were able to get close, we’d lose the ball or play it off to the side.”
Central Lee only managed four shots all night as the quirky fast Nikes tracked down most through-balls and breakaways regularly cleaning up the Central Lee third of the field.
Notre Dame started quick with a good penalty kick on a Hawk handball near the goal with just 1:10 gone in the game. And just one minute later the Nikes, who seemed to be playing with 30 players to the Hawks 11 in the first period, scored again on a shot from Tatum Warner that found the back of the net to the right with Central Lee keeper Max Jones diving short of the ball.
After that goal, the Nikes had eight more shots before Central Lee could put anything together on their end. At 10:34 left in the first half the Nikes' Alessandro Markomichelakis fired a shot from about 18 feet that found the back of the net for a 3-0 lead, that would ultimately set the final score.
Schau said the game changed in the second half after a team huddle. The Hawks effort from that point on changed the Nikes’ approach and success. But he said the Hawks need to have that effort from the starting whistle.

“The effort changed. It wasn’t much of a pep talk. Life’s about choices and they chose that they did not want to see them put another ball in the back of the net. It’s not that we didn't have effort in the first half, but they were working their butts off for nothing.
“I'm not upset about the game. In fact, I'm kind of excited about our ability to come out of the half with a different mindset. But I'm also upset in the same breath as to why can't we have that mindset at the start of the game. We get caught up like that sometimes. There's games where we just come out guns a-firing and we press really hard. I thought we did a decent job the first five minutes. After those first two quick goals we had multiple opportunities. It just seemed like we had them on their heels a little bit in the striking third where we could kind of do what we wanted to. We just could not get that final touch.”
He said if the Hawks had given the effort in the first half they did in the second, it could have a been a 0-0 game and then you go to penalty kicks where anything can happen.
He also said Notre Dame is one of the most technically sound teams in the state, which speaks volumes for the Hawks’ success in the second half.
“I mean all 11 on the field for them could play anywhere. They're just a really good team,” he said.
With the loss, the Hawks finish the regular season 11-4 (5-3 SEISC) and now prep for Tuesday’s Substate 5 Class 1A first round match. Central Lee will host Sigourney in the first round, with Mediapolis waiting in the wings with a bye. Danville and WACO battle in the first round as well with the winner taking on West Liberty in the top half of the Substate 5 bracket.
Mediapolis escaped with a win over Highland in the other SEISC semi 3-2 in a penalty kick session. They faced Notre Dame Saturday morning at Central Lee in the tournament finals.