Bulldogs put Polar Bears on ice

BY KELLY TERPSTRA, Courier sports writer

May 08, 2008 11:47 pm

— OTTUMWA — David Schwent doesn’t possess supernatural powers.
Nor does he carry around a vile of magic potions that mysteriously mystify any opponent he faces into succumbing to his soccer team’s power.
What he does have is a talented, veteran and hungry squad that is now 9-1 on the season with two regular-season matches left.
The Ottumwa boys soccer team kept adding additional notations to the OHS record books on Thursday night at home versus Des Moines North.
Ottumwa blitzed the 1-8 Polar Bears after a scoreless first half with six second-half goals. The Bulldogs clearly demonstrated their immense firepower in the 6-0 win and keep pushing toward a late-season march to long-awaited respectability in the state.
“We have been building for awhile and it’s a new program. Honestly, as a first-year coach, I was lucky to come in now. It’s not like a came in, had a magic wand and everybody started playing better,” said Schwent. “We just needed the time to build the program. Now the program is built. That’s why they compete with everybody now.”
Ottumwa set the record for single-season victories last Tuesday against the West Des Moines Valley junior varsity squad.
One of the reasons for Ottumwa’s success is a team-first attitude, something that senior foreign-exchange student Simon Koops already understood before he set foot on American soil.
“I try to play for the team. I’m not here for scoring — I’m here for getting assists, that’s my type of play. I want to bring my team players in action and help them score,” said Koops, who hails from Hamburg, Germany.
Koops scored Ottumwa’s last goal of the night, which was assisted by Oscar Sandoval. Sandoval started the match’s scoring with a header at the 41st minute.
“We’re playing great soccer together. We’re having a great season. I think we can go anywhere we want to. We just have to keep it up,” said Koops, who scored three goals and dished out three assists against Valley.
The start to matches has Schwent a tad worried — especially against a better squad than the Polar Bears.
“Once we start, we really don’t stop. It’s the starting part that we occasionally have a problem with,” said Schwent.
Ottumwa (9-1, 3-1) closes the home portion of its season at home tonight on Senior Night versus Fairfield. Ottumwa ends the regular season at Des Moines Hoover on Tuesday, a match that could decide the conference championship.
Ottumwa 6, Des Moines North 0
DMN 0 0 — 0
OTT 0 6 — 6
Scoring Summary
Ottumwa — Oscar Sandoval (assist Miguel Torres) 41:36
Ottumwa — Martin Garcia 63:37
Ottumwa — Thomas Lundmark (assist Jeff Kelly) 64:31
Ottumwa — own goal 71:50
Ottumwa — Martin Gonzalez 75:31
Ottumwa — Simon Koops (assist Sandoval) 78:48
Des Moines North: Total Shots — 7 (leader x). Total Saves — 11. Total Fouls — 8 (Yellow Card, Red Card).
Ottumwa: Total Shots — 17 (Koops 4, Austin Kelly 3). Total Saves — 7 (Joe Roark 6, Luis Sican 1). Total Fouls — 7 (Yellow Card).

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