Wash, Kennedy earn girls' state soccer berths (w/video)

CEDAR RAPIDS - Six straight for Cedar Rapids Kennedy. First date for Cedar Rapids Washington.

"We talked about 80 steps to school history," said Washington Coach Sean McCoy, after his team's 1-0 win over Linn-Mar in the nightcap of a Class 3A girls' soccer regional final double-header Monday night at steamy Kingston Stadium. "Eighty steps, 80 minutes. The kids took 80 steps tonight, and it's school history for us."

No. 8 Washington (16-3) is a first-time qualifier for the state tournament, drawing top-ranked Ankeny (18-1) in a Thursday night 8:15 quarterfinal. The Warriors will be joined in Muscatine by No. 4 Kennedy, which earned tourney bid six in a row with a 6-0 thrashing of Cedar Rapids Jefferson in Monday's opener.

Kennedy (15-3) plays No. 5 West Des Moines Valley (14-4) in an 8 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday. The Cougars won a regular-season encounter.

"Several years ago, (an earlier) class set the standard, set the bar high," said Kennedy's Shauna Happel. "Every year, with new girls coming in, we try to step up to that level. At Kennedy, it's a family tradition. We want to continue that tradition."

Hines curled a ball from 14 yards out over Linn-Mar goalkeeper Kailee Karr's head and into the net with 23:38 left in their evenly played game. Linn-Mar (12-7), ranked 10th, had a couple of dangerous direct kicks after Hines' goal, including one with less than five minutes left from 10 yards out straight away by Kali Hubler that sailed over the crossbar.

"The keeper was out, so I just hit it over her head. It went in," Hines said. "We've worked hard all season. We pushed each other from spring break to this game. This just means a lot."

Kennedy and Jefferson played a 2-1 game in the regular season, but the postseason rematch was all Cougars. Hannah Palomo had a pair of goals a minute apart late in the first half.

Katie Helmlinger broke a scoreless tie in the 16th minute. Shauna Happel, Jordan Holmes and Emily Feltes had goals in half number two.

"I was impressed with how we played," said Happel. "We've had a lot of ups and downs this season. Soccer around the state has been crazy all season throughout the state. I was very happy with how we came out hard today and set the tone for the rest of the game."

Kennedy hurt Jefferson with several long balls that their forwards were able to trek down ahead of Jeff's defenders.

"We had to play around (Jeff defender) Maggie Bruckman," Screws said. "She is one of the best players in the state, and trying to go through her is a problem, a mistake. So we needed to either try and pull her out of position or go around her."

Here are the state tournament pairings in all three classes and a short interview with Hines:

State Soccer Lines