MARION — Marion boys’ soccer head coach Marco Fichtner was on the outside looking in when his team squared off again Clear Creek Amana in a Class 3A substate semifinal Wednesday.
What he saw was mostly good, although a couple of bad spots stuck out in a 6-1 win over the Clippers.
“I turned over coaching duties to my assistant Kory (Boebel) today,” Fichtner said. “I wanted to look in from the outside as an observer for a different view.”
He didn’t have to wait long to witness the good, as Jaffer Murphy put the Indians (15-0) on the board just three minutes into the game.
Clippers (5-12) goalie Blake Malli shook off the early goal and shut down the Indians for nearly all of the first half. He stopped the next 10 shots on goal, which kept the Clippers close.
“When we take the ball in and don’t score, we aren’t satisfied,” Murphy said. “So we just take it in again and again until we do.”
With less than a minute until the half, Marion’s Tim Schuttloffel broke through the Clippers’ defense and scored on a rebound to put Marion up 2-0.
“I thought we played well for the most part,” Fichtner said. “The way we possessed the ball was great, and that was our game plan — to come out and possess them.”
Harrison Cory got the Clippers on the board later in the half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Indians. Marion will move on to play Mount Pleasant in the substate final on Saturday in Marion.
“We have to play like we did in the second half right away on Saturday,” Fichtner said. “We can’t be hesitant, we have to bring it to the table first thing.”