Cyclones drop season opener to Panthers

After a tough season opener to the Panorama Panthers in their 2023 opener at home in which they lost 5-1, the HCHS Cyclones girls soccer team was hoping for redemption, but came up short, once again losing 3-1.
“Panorama has always been a tough opponent for us, and they lost very few players from last year, which is similar to us,” said Cyclone Head Coach Jared Boysen. “In last year's 5-1 loss, we were adding two new defensive players and a new goalie and it was challenging to start out against a team with an offense that is really good at controlling the ball and creating open looks.”
Early into Monday’s season opener on the road against the Panorama Panthers, Cyclone Junior Aubrey Schwieso scored the first goal of the game, but it would be the only goal for the Cyclones losing their season opener.
“We were able to score first after our defense cleared the ball and Aubrey Schwieso was able to run through the ball and get behind their defense to muscle the ball into the back of the net with the goalie coming out at her,” Boysen said.
The Panthers responded back with one of their superstars from a year ago in Morgan Crees, who tied the game and gave the Panthers the lead right after.
“Panorama responded quickly with Morgan Crees scoring two goals within the next five minutes with some great moves to get past the defense to take the lead,” Boysen said. “They added another goal with 15 minutes to go in the first half on a great cross into the box to their other top scorer Mia Waddle for a one touch finish.”
During the Panthers 2023 campaign, they were led by Crees in goals, and Waddle in assists.
“Morgan Crees was a freshman last year and being the first game we did not know or expect what she was capable of,” Boysen added. “We knew more going into the game this year, but it was still going to be tough to stop her again after she had scored 41 goals a season ago.”
Despite coming up empty in the second half of the game, Boysen was proud of the efforts with multiple Cyclones having opportunities to score, including his goalkeeper who kept the game close on the defensive end.
“I thought we responded well in the second half, really working on communicating and covering their scorers in the middle and Grace [Albertsen] made a couple great saves to keep the game close,” he said. “Kayla Anderson, Ivy Stephens, and Aubrey each had one or two good scoring opportunities in the second half that just missed the goal.”
The Cyclones were set to battle the Treynor Cardinals in their home opener Tuesday night at 5 p.m., but that game got postponed due to inclement weather. Their next match will be Thursday on the road at 5:30 p.m. against the Carroll Tigers. The Tigers went 2-16 during their 2023 season and were led by Seniors Sophia Polking with seven goals, Macey Weber with one assist, and Kiley Riesberg with 303 saves.
“Finishing will be something that we will need to keep improving on throughout the season especially in the games where we do not get very many of those chances against tough teams,” Boysen said. “We are going to be able to look at some film today with our game being postponed against Treynor because of the cold and hope we can continue to learn and respond well against Carroll on Thursday.”