Xavier loses to Norwalk in PKs (photo gallery)

DES MOINES - The Cedar Rapids Xavier Saints didn't fail to defend their Class 2A state championship so much as they lost a coin flip to continue having an opportunity to do so.Penalty kicks are the ultimate coin flip. Heads or tails, what a tough way to decide a soccer game.Especially if you don't win.“When it comes to PKs, it's really 50-50,” Xavier's Colin Gunn after his club's 2-1 loss Thursday to Norwalk in a quarterfinal at soggy Cownie Park.And Xavier was on the wrong side of that 50-50 - again. The Saints (8-9-1) lost three games this season in overtime and three more in a “shootout,” if you will.A cruel pattern that once more played itself out, this time on the state tourney stage. Xavier was seeking its third 2A title in a row.“All year long, we were not able to close the games,” said Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic. “I really didn't want to go into overtime. I was telling the guys ‘Hey, let's finish it on time.'”Norwalk (14-5) exacted some revenge for a 1-0 loss to Xavier in last year's championship game. The Warriors carried a lot of the first-half play, hitting the crossbar on one shot, then taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by freshman Sam Steenhoek with 2:33 left.But Gunn tied it just 1:26 later with a long drive that skipped past Norwalk goalkeeper Spencer Hoyt.“We wanted to come back strong. We knew they had the momentum a little bit,” Gunn said. “I just tried to hit it. I knew the grass would be wet a little bit, so I tried to skip it. It happened to go in.”“We came out a little flat. I wasn't happy about that,” Hadzic said. “I thought Norwalk gave it to us the first 15 or 20 minutes. But once we established our game, the second half the momentum shifted in our favor. We had some looks and chances we couldn't convert.”Xavier carried more of the play in the second half but couldn't get a go-ahead marker. Same thing in the two 10-minute overtimes.Hoyt then made the game's biggest save in the PK portion, diving to his left to stop fourth-shooter Josh Steffensmeier's kick. That was the only one of the 10 tries that wasn't successful against Hoyt and Xavier counterpart Jordan Hoffman.“The coaches tell us to read their hips,” Hoyt said. “I dove the same way every time ... When I got that one it was a total relief.”“Unfortunately the ball didn't bounce our way,” Hadzic said. “It could have gone either way. We were on the wrong side of it.”

Cedar Rapids Xavier goalie Jordan Hoffman (1) lies on the field after Norwalk's Tom Scallon (23) scored the winning penalty kick in a shootout for their Class 2A quarterfinal game at the state soccer tournament on Thursday, May 31, 2012, at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines. Norwalk won a shootout.(Liz Martin/The Gazette-KCRG)