Calming the Storm

Even though there was snow on the forecast, the Simpson Storm were only sever weather to blow through Decorah on Saturday night. Simpson came in riding a three-game winning streak, and it looked to be another tough battle for Luther on Saturday Night. With the alumni in town to cheer them on (alumni post to follow), Luther looked to come up with a much needed win and level their conference record at 2-2. After a great performance and a tough loss against Loras, Luther hoped to continue their upward trend.
Thankfully (for us thin-blooded Texas coaches, at least) the snow missed Decorah and it was a cold, lovely, evening for soccer. As the sun set over the Oneota Valley, shadows grew long and Luther bundled up to take the field against Simpson. Guilherme Castro made the most of his first start for Luther when he played a deft touch in the box to Adam Pyzdrowski. As he pushed it past a defender he was chopped him down in the penalty box. The referee made an easy call for the penalty, and Mike Olson recorded his first goal of the year as he put the ball in the upper V for the goal on six minutes played. Simpson did not slither away to die and when Luther could not get a second goal quickly the Storm looked like they would fight to the end.
The field was still an issue after a few weeks of brutal weather and too much wear, but Luther continued to fight and battle and were the better side on this day. Luther lost defensive standout Eric Johnson after he took a knock in the first half, but first-year Jackson Stalberger stepped in to play a great second half for Luther. Andy Eisenberg gave a much needed lift when he came off the bench after Castro went down with an ankle injury. Steve O'Meara recorded another shutout making the saves he needed to and leading our back line. After out shooting Simpson 10-6, the game ended 1-0 in favor of our Luther Norse. It was another tremendous effort where the boys fought hard for ninety minutes. They did what was asked of them and leveled Luther's conference record. The boys now look ahead to the long road trip to Buena Vista on Wednesday where they expect to continue their winning ways.