Oskaloosa boys soccer team opened substate play Thursday at Albia.

In a hard-fought match, the Indians pulled out a 3-1 win over the Blue Demons.

The Indians came out very flat and did not play the type of defensive pressure on the ball that they have been playing for the most of the season.

“We gave Albia too much time to make decisions how they would play the ball and where they would pass it through out much of the first half,” Oskaloosa coach Mark Doll said.

However as the first half was coming to an end, at the 35-minute mark, Daniel Doll scored on a ball delivered to him on assists from Max Holle and Andrew Reed. The first half ended with Oskaloosa up by one goal, but coach Doll was concerned about his team's lack of effort and hustle.

The second half opened with both teams coming out with more energy and Albia scored of a defensive miscue by the Oskaloosa defense to tie the game at 1-1 at about 10 minutes into the second half. The whole Oskaloosa team stepped up its defensive pressure on the field and just over 5 minutes after Albia tied the game, Caleb Doll headed a ball toward the Albia goal and aggressively followed his shot. The Albia Goalkeeper bobbled the ball and Caleb was able to poke the ball away from the goalkeeper, dribbled outside the box and crossed the ball to Daniel who headed the ball easily into the back of the net for the game winning goal.

“That play by Caleb represented the kind of good play that Osky brought to the second half of this game” Mark Doll said.

Taylor Schelker, Max Holle, Isaiah Thompson, Andrew Reed all stepped up their pressure on the ball and it brought good results on the scoreboard for Oskaloosa.

With 6 minutes left in the match, Daniel Doll who was hit almost every time he touched the ball, was knocked down, but recovered the ball and crossed it in front of the goal and found Caleb Doll crashing on the goal and finished an easy goal to put the game out of reach for Albia.

The Oskaloosa defense played a solid second half and really limited the opportunities that Albia had even a remote chance to score on Weibe. Weibe played another good game for Oskaloosa and anchored the defense, once again.

The Indian midfield played very well in the second half as Taylor Schelker had a number of dangerous runs and several good shots on goal. Max Holle did an excellent job of stealing balls and feeding the Osky offensive. Isaiah Thompson played a great game and not only robbed balls, but made some incredible passes and had several strong shots on goal, as well.

“This was a great win for the Indians,” Mark Doll said. “Everyone wondered how the team would respond to the game-tying goal scored by Albia early in the second half, but Osky responded as they should by surging ahead on the scoreboard and gradually taking the control of the game. Albia played a very physical game with numerous fouls called against them and 4 players receiving yellow cards for hard or repetitive fouls.”

Oskaloosa will play again on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at the Pella soccer complex on the south side of Hwy 163.

Oskaloosa 3, Albia 1