The Creston boys soccer squad knew they had their work cut out for them in their home opener and debut within Hawkeye 10 play Thursday, April 2, as St. Albert showed its prowess as a state quarterfinalist team from last season. The result was a 6-1 loss for Creston.
“They will be one of our tougher matches and they’re a tough team and matchup for us,” Creston boys soccer coach Adrian Flores said. “They went far in the postseason and I wanted us to leave it all on the field and see what happened. We played well at times, but the first half was too much to overcome.”
The Falcons went in front 4-0 before halftime, but the second half saw a tightening up in play as the Panthers were only outscored 2-1 following intermission. Flores said his team has been working hard in practices and feels this season will be a good one.
“It was good to have a home opener for our first Hawkeye 10 match. We are glad we don’t have to be on the road tonight for the conference opener. I think that we will have a good season. We are playing good in our practices and learning,” he said.
Led by a hat trick from Morgan Young, who also had an assist, Kyle Irwin tacked on a pair of goals with an assist. Jaxon Burgett also had a goal and assist while Cain Hughes and Kosta Paulos-Schweer each made assists. Creston’s Joaquin Flores had a goal while Davis Sandoval had an assist. Panther keeper Baret Lane had 12 saves in the match. Nodaway Valley’s Jon Maldonado is on this year’s Creston team.
All but two of the schools in the Hawkeye 10 have begun their seasons — Denison-Schleswig and Red Oak have yet to play a match. The Panthers, Lewis Central and St. Albert are three teams with at least one win so far.
Creston is back in action this week on the road at Chariton Tuesday, April 7 and then back in Hawkeye 10 play Thursday, April 7 at Denison-Schleswig.
Panthers win season opener at Winterset
WINTERSET — The Creston Panthers traveled to Winterset Tuesday, March 31, for their season opening match. The result was a 3-0 win over the Huskies. The Panthers were looking for their first season-opening win since the 2019 season and they got it.
The Panthers got a pair of goals from Flores in the first half and a second half goal from Wyatt Burwell in the victory. Lane had 14 saves in the match to earn the shutout. Winterset keeper Moses Hochstetler gave up three goals and had five saves in the match. Flores had an assist on Burwell’s goal.
“I was concerned about going from the turf field here to the grass field there (Winterset). The ball moves differently and at different speeds with each surface,” coach Flores said. “We came up and we did our best.”
Creston and Winterset met for just the second time since the last Creston win over Winterset in 2014. Winterset took matches of 8-1 in 2025 and 3-1 in 2017 for the last three matches between the schools.