Emma Cooper nets overtime winner for Iowa City West at City High

IOWA CITY — Emma Cooper's eyes grew wide describing her reaction to the winning goal in overtime: 'Relief. I was so glad we didn't have to drag it out to PKs.

'Last year was a really hard game for us, too. It was by far our closest game of the season. We know so many of the girls, and it's big competition. It's emotional.'

Defending state champion No. 7 Iowa City West beat rival No. 14 Iowa City High 2-1 in overtime on Cooper's goal. The winner came in the 82nd minute off a corner from Heelah Nadler.

'We have players who are great at getting in the attacking mode, being aggressive with that, and putting it into a dangerous area is always a good thing,' Nadler said. 'We try to get them all in and make something happen with it.

'It was chaos, and then I saw Cooper with the ball at her feet and saw her kick it in.'

City goalie Naomi Meurice, who was outstanding all game, lost her grip on a deflection and the ball bounced. Cooper had to settle it before taking a swing at it. The box was jammed with players.

'It was a little hectic,' Cooper said. 'I got lucky and had a second chance to hit it in.'

West (12-3, 10-1 MVC) put pressure on the Little Hawks (9-5, 7-4) throughout, but the only goal came in the 10th minute on a Regan Steigleder penalty kick after she was fouled in the box. City answered two minutes later on a through ball from Grace Brown to a streaking Ashley Smith, who put it past the keeper.

'We had a lot of shots, but they were really, really organized in the back,' Cooper said.

'They threw bodies at us; they threw bodies on us, and they did it well,' West Coach Dave Rosenthal said. 'They worked harder than any other team we've played defensively.'

'We asked for a great effort, and we knew it was going to take a great effort and it was there,' City Coach Michael Prunty said. 'We worked hard to not give up a goal in regulation. I'm pretty happy with how much we denied them of their real chances.'