State soccer round-up: Gilbert girls advance to 1A semifinals
The girls state soccer tournament got underway and the Class 3A boys state tournament games took place after a one-day delay due to inclement weather Wednesday at the Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines.
Ames area teams Gilbert and Nevada competed in 1A during the girls tournament and Ames participated in the 3A boys competition.
Gilbert advanced to the 1A girls semifinals with a 2-0 quarterfinal win over Underwood. Nevada suffered a 1-0 loss to Bishop Heelan Catholic in the quarterfinals.
The Ames boys put up a great fight against Dowling Catholic in the 4A quarterfinals. The No. 7 seed Little Cyclones fell by a 2-1 score to the second-seeded Maroons.
Here are recaps of how Ames area teams did during Wednesday's state soccer tournaments.
Gilbert 2, Underwood 0 (1A girls)
Gilbert gradually asserted its will against Underwood during the second 1A girls state soccer quarterfinal of the day.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead at the half and added another goal during the second 40 minutes to pull off a shutout victory and earn a date with defending champion Des Moines Christian in the state semifinals.
"We've all worked really hard for this," said Gilbert sweeper Alex Harswick. "We've really come together as a team and it's really exciting. I can't wait to see what we can do next."
Harswick said her team has really bonded recently. The Tigers dropped two of their final four games of the regular season to 2A state qualifiers North Polk and Dallas Center-Grimes, but they rebounded to outscore their three regional opponents by a combined 21-0 margin.
As the anchor of Gilbert's back line, Harswick was pleased with getting another shutout Wednesday.
"Defense is definitely getting stronger," Harswick said. "I just love working with those girls. It's so much fun. We're working hard every day."
Both of Gilbert's goals came off assists from forward Sydney Lynch. Freshman forward Madison Powers was the first Tiger to find the net with a goal in the first half. Junior forward Sarah Thatcher netted Gilbert's other goal in the second half.
Underwood finished its season at 11-3.
Bishop Heelan 1, Nevada 0 (1A girls)
Bishop Heelan may have been the underdog against Nevada, but the Crusaders played lights out to pull off the upset.
Bishop Heelan controlled possession for most of the first half and at the 10:34 mark, the Crusaders caught a break. Midfielder Jada Newberg managed to slip a ball past the Nevada defense and Cubs keeper Joslynn Farmer for what turned out to be the game's only goal.
"They had one that bounced in front of us," said Nevada coach Randy Davis. "That's a tough one. But they earned it by putting that pressure on us."
Nevada played better in the second half, but the Cubs could not string enough good runs together to break through the Crusader defense.
"It was a hard-fought game," Davis said. "We always say we're not going to hang our heads. We're going to bounce back and we're going to be here again next year."
Nevada finished its 11th-straight season with a state tournament appearance at 14-4.
Dowling Catholic 2, Ames 1 (4A boys)
The Ames boys went toe-to-toe with Dowling for most of the game during the 4A boys quarterfinals Wednesday night.
The first half ended in a scoreless tie and then Ames struck first. Forward Zachary Cuva scored on a great run to the goal to put the Little Cyclones up 1-0 less than 10 minutes into the second half.
Ames maintained that edge until the final 10 minutes of regulation when the momentum completely shifted toward Dowling.
Dowling's Jonathan Mendes scored two goals within two minutes of each other during the final 10 minutes of play to lead the Maroons to the comeback victory. Dowling advanced to the semifinals with a 16-2 record and Ames ended its outstanding season at 13-5.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames area state soccer round-up
