Titan boys’ soccer open season with two shut-out wins

The Tea Area High School boys’ soccer team opened the season with two back-to-back 10-0 shutout wins, defeating Dakota Valley 10-0 on Aug. 17 and James Valley Christian 10-0 on Aug. 19.

Leading the charge in Dakota Valley was Ashdan Farrell who scored three goals and recorded two assists in the win. Juv Banza had two goals and one assist. Jonathon Howe recorded two goals and Gavin Reiners, Ivan Zamora, and Daylen McKnelley each scored one goal. Payton Edmonds had one assist along with Zamora.

Against James Valley Christian, Farrell took five shots at goal and hit the back of the net on all five, scoring half of the Titans’ goals. Bonza, Matai Yadassa, Zamora, Nathan Hall, and McKnelly all scored one goal apiece for Tea Area.

Earning assists in the game were Banza with two, Hudson Hadrick with two, and Caleb Buus, Edmonds, and Beckett Martens with one.

“These two wins show the hard work we put in since the middle of June,” said Titan head coach Zach Jurgens. “We have a very deep team…we have 17 guys that can all play.”

The Titans match-up against Watertown on Aug. 22 was postponed to the excessive heat warning as was their match-up in Vermillion on Aug. 24. The team will travel to Harrisburg on Aug. 26, then to West Central on Aug. 28, then to Sioux Falls Christian on Aug. 31.

“This will be a nice challenging task for the team,” said Jurgens. “It will be a measuring stick for us as a team to see where we are at and what we need to work on.”