Photo by Jeff Yoder | photo gallery

Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Entering Monday’s postseason opener Solon wanted to score some goals, build some confidence and erase the memory of a regular season ending three-match losing streak.  

The third-ranked Spartans did all of that with an 8-0 win over Centerville (0-16) in a Class 1A, Substate 6 quarterfinal on a chilly evening at Spartan Field.

Jorel Justus scored three goals and Luke Yetley added two goals and an assist as Solon (14-6) advanced to take on Pella Christian (6-9) in a substate semifinal on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“Coming into this game we just knew we had to get the result,” Justus said. “We didn’t care what it was, if we would have won 1-0 or 10-0 as long as we got the result and moved on we were fine.”

Solon got its win on Monday but perhaps nearly as importantly was the manner in which the Spartans advanced.

The Spartans were shutout in their final two regular season matches and scored just one goal during a three-match losing skid to end the regular season.

Solon hopes Monday’s eight-goal effort will help put those offensive struggles in the past.

“Today was about scoring goals, we left a lot out there but it was nice after the frustration of the last three game to actually see the ball go into the net,” Solon coach Jeremey McMurrin said. “Hopefully that builds some confidence going forward the next couple of games.”

Yetley got the scoring started with a nifty shot into the upper left corner of the goal from just inside the box in the 11th minute.

The Yetley goal started a string of three goals in a little our four minutes for the Spartans.

Justus scored off a rocket from 25 yards out and then slipped in a shot from point blank range off a Yetley assist in the 14th minute.

“After our three losses at the end of the year this was a huge confidence booster,” Justus said. “We went to South Tama and we said the same thing that we needed some confidence going into substate and unfortunately that didn’t happen but this game was nice. Eight goals that’s a big confidence boost going into Wednesday and Saturday.”

Yetley had a chance to build to the lead but had a penalty kick stopped. The senior responded just minutes later with a goal that gave Solon a 4-0 halftime cushion.

“We had our first three and then went a while without scoring,” Yetley said. “I missed a pk in there which didn’t help anything so I wanted to score quickly after that because I knew I let the team down so I really wanted to get a goal.”

Solon quickly put the match out of reach in the second half scoring less than four minutes into the half on a Centerville own goal.

Luke McInnis, Justus and Bennett Meier added second-half goals for the Spartans.

“It was nice to get some confidence and get some minutes for some guys that might not have played as much but the most important thing was to win,” Yetley said. “Our season isn’t ending tonight but we need to improve by Wednesday.”

Solon will take on Pella Christian in a Substate 6 doubleheader on Wednesday at Spartan Stadium. The Eagles advanced with a 3-1 win over Albia on Monday.

Iowa Mennonite will face Clarke in the opening matchup on Wednesday with the winners meeting on Saturday in the Substate 6 title game at Spartan Stadium.

“It’s nice to be able to be at home throughout,” McMurrin said. “We don’t play very well on grass, some other teams don’t play as well on turf so we think it’s a huge advantage to be able to play here.”

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