FAIRFIELD — It's been a pendulum-swinging season.
The Fairfield boys soccer team has lost three straight games not once, but twice in the past two months. But in between, the Trojans found a way to close out the regular season with three straight Southeast Conference wins and back-to-back home wins in late April.
Fairfield looked to ride its latest momentum and earn a postseason victory Monday night. But Chariton had other ideas, winning 2-1 in the Class 2A Substate 6 quarterfinals next week at Ken Lock Stadium, earning a chance to defeat undefeated Gilbert and leading the Trojans. It brought an end to a season full of ups and downs.
It was the chance Fairfield head coach Felicebert Gesimane had been hoping for after his team won back-to-back games against Burlington and Oskaloosa last Thursday and Friday. Danny Elingas scored a goal in the second half off a feed from Carter Stark to break the scoreless tie. Fairfield avenged a 1-0 loss to Burlington three games earlier on Thursday against the Greyhounds, scoring four goals in the second half to win 1-0. Fairfield closed out the regular season with a 6-1 victory over Oskaloosa at Trojan Stadium.
“The key is momentum. Once you get to sub-state it's a different level of competition so you need to be able to carry over the momentum you've built,” Gesimane said. “We've made some really good plays this season. It was important for us to stay mentally focused.”
The Trojans' up-and-down nature was on display in their final game of the regular season. Fairfield, which faced winless Oskaloosa, will go all out to get that elusive first win before opening postseason play against Knoxville on Monday against the Indians, who have nothing to lose. I realized that I had to.
“From the first game of the season, our players practiced hard and became a more cohesive team,” Oskaloosa coach Jacob Kim said. “Effort increased in every game, even if the result wasn’t what we wanted.”
Oskaloosa continued to attack Fairfield's offense in the first 10 minutes, hitting shot after shot. After thwarting numerous chances by the Indians, the Trojans finally took the lead in the 17th minute when Ezra Kuster made a quick throw to give Fairfield a 1-0 lead.
“Everyone was tired after a tough game the night before (against Burlington), so we were worried we might get a little slow start,” Kuster said. “As the game went on, we finally started to pick up the pace. I think we were rushing a lot at first, but eventually we started playing our game.”
Fairfield began to find a consistent offense, with Jaxen Allen breaking through Oskaloosa's defense down the field and funneling the Trojans' long passes. Allen doubled Fairfield's one-point lead with a goal late in the first half, and scored Fairfield's fourth goal of the second half off a feed from Stark with less than six minutes left in the game.
“You just have to get through the defense and anticipate plays,” Allen said. “I definitely felt some sensation in my legs, but it’s a great way to end the regular season.”
Kuster and Elingaus added second-half goals against Oskaloosa to give the Trojans their final win of the season. Lane Stevie added a goal in the 62nd minute to seal the match.
The Trojans are 31 seconds away from making the postseason with back-to-back shutout wins. But Cale Van Wyk scored what would be Oskaloosa's final goal of an 0-15 winless season, after finding the back of the net on an attack in the 80th minute and final minute against Fairfield. They were shut out 3-0 by Knoxville. Class 2A substate quarterfinals.
“I wasn't happy with the goal we conceded at the end,” Gesimane said. “He lost concentration. It was a good kick but he lost the ball in a bad spot and it all started.”
Chariton (10-3) built a 2-0 lead against the Trojans early in the second half of the semistate opener Monday, with Mason Smith scoring and William Yeager setting up the second goal. Carter Moore gave Fairfield a chance with five minutes remaining, converting a free kick spill with 5:18 left for the final goal of the season for the 6-7 Trojans.
“We knew it was going to be tough to make it to state considering the teams we had to go through,” Kuster said.
