Sophomore Alex Dick ties school record with five goals.
Aurora sophomore Alex Dick tied a school record with five goals Saturday, leading the charge for the Huskies in a convincing 10-0 win over winless Madison in the opening round of the soccer postseason.
Aurora coach Michael Ksiazek credited Dick for bringing his best game of the season on a picture-perfect morning for soccer on the Huskies home pitch, saying he has watched his young mid-center gain confidence throughout the season.
“Honestly, Alex missed a PK (penalty kick) for us on Thursday,” Ksiazek said of Aurora’s 2-1 win over Holdrege. “I think this is kind of his redemption game. He came out guns blazing and we told him after the game that this is the Alex we need day in and day out. He had a fabulous game. He was aggressive, looked to score, created opportunities and probably had his best game of the season.”
Saturday’s win in the B-6 District opener advances the Huskies to a Tuesday rematch against Grand Island Northwest, a team that had Aurora’s number in a March 30 regular season matchup.
“We played Northwest early in the season and it turned out being a 6-0 game,” Ksiazek recalled. “I think our boys can compete with them. We’ve actually never beat Northwest in program history and I think this is a great opportunity for us to kind of get that burden off our back. Northwest is a very talented, good team this year, but I think we’ve grown. I think we have our confidence up and hopefully we can go in there and give them a run for their money on Tuesday.”
On Saturday against an 0-7 Madison squad, Ksiazek said the game plan was to be aggressive and work on controlling the offensive flow with crisp ball movement.
“We’ve been working lately on getting our outside backs involved in the offense,” he explained. “Brooks Handrup was making runs up the sideline and playing the ball outside in for us, so today we were able to work on that. That was great to see. Our back line has been stellar all year. They’ve been doing exactly what we need to be doing, so I think for them this was a good game to try to see a different side of it, getting on the attack and seeing what they can do to help us out.”
The Huskies controlled the game from the start, keeping the ball on the home end of the pitch for almost the entire first half. Garrett Kuehner broke the ice with a head shot into the net at the 28:12 mark, and 2-1/2 minutes later Ian Jensen drilled a shot into the left corner just inside the post.
From that point on it was Alex Dick and Canon Allen pressuring the Madison defense with a barrage of shots, combining for eight goals between them. Dick scored his first at the 24:27 mark, with Allen taking advantage of a rebound putback five minutes later. Dick showed some nifty footwork to set up his second goal at the 16:35 mark, and again Allen kept pace with a hard shot past the goalie with 11:40 to go in the first half.
Dick’s netter with 4:21 to go gave him a hat trick as the Huskies took a commanding 7-0 lead into the break.
“Alex got a start as a sophomore and I think he’s played a little bit timid,” the coach observed. “But through the season, getting some goals, getting some assists and everything else, he realized that he belongs on the varsity field. He has really grown his confidence quite a bit and hopefully it kind of carries with him going forward.”
The Huskies finished the day early Saturday with Allen posting his third goal at the 35:02 mark. He was also credited with three assists in the game, as was Dick.
“Canon has been producing goals for us all season,” Ksiazek said. “He got goals for us last year, but I mean this has kind of been his breakout year as he’s really taking that striker position and running with it. He’s been aggressive, being in the right spot at the right time and he really commands that front line. He’s kind of the leader up there and the boys respect him and follow him.”
Dick finished the game off with a short boot into the net while the clock showed 34:32, then stopped the ball just before it crossed the end line, dribbled back in front of the net and nailed the game winner with his fifth goal of the game.
The game ended on the mercy rule at the 31:37 mark.
“I give credit to Madison coming out here,” Ksiazek said. “They’re a newer team. I think they’ll get there eventually. Our boys came out and they were hungry. They can look back on the season and kind of see our record and realize that we can actually cause some damage, so hopefully this is a great momentum boost going up against Northwest on Tuesday.”