3A No. 4 Cedar Rapids Prairie conquering the MVC boys’ soccer field

IOWA CITY - Having conquered the Metro for the second year in a row, the Cedar Rapids Prairie boys' soccer team set its sights on Iowa City.

The Class 3A fourth-ranked Hawks scored three goals in the first 10 minutes and defeated sixth-ranked Iowa City High, 4-2, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game Thursday at Iowa City High School.

'What we've been training on the last week to 10 days, we're seeing the rewards of it in our games,” Prairie Coach Curt Lewis said. 'I didn't think we'd come down and score four goals.”

Prairie (7-0, 7-0 MVC) has won 20 MVC regular-season games in a row, including a sweep of the other four Cedar Rapids schools that was capped Tuesday with a double-overtime victory over No. 5 Washington.

The Hawks host eighth-ranked Iowa City West next Tuesday. The Trojans are the defending 3A state champions that ended Prairie's unbeaten 2017 season in a state quarterfinal.

'It's another opportunity to play against a good team,” Lewis said. 'We're trying to show that we're not a fluke. That we're here to be around.”

Senior defender Boston Riley assisted on each of the first three Prairie scores. His throw in to fellow Wis.-Platteville signee Matt Walter resulted in the second goal this season for Walter. Junior Mateus Lewis and Halleran were the other beneficiaries of Riley's distribution.

Four minutes after City High junior Ben Steve cut the deficit to 3-1 with his team-high 10th goal this season, Walter delivered a crossing pass from the left side that eluded the Little Hawks' defense and found Halleran for a quick strike and a three-score lead with 5:01 left in the first half.

'We just played really well together,” said Halleran, who led the Hawks in assists in 2017 and is tied for the team lead with four goals this season. 'We got a lot of combo plays and that really hurt them pretty bad. Like the one Matt slid across and I put away, I felt like we were on point with that.”

Senior John Clark posted an assist and scored on a penalty kick in the 51st minute for City High (8-2, 5-2).

AT IOWA CITY HIGH

Class 3A No. 4 Cedar Rapids Prairie 4, No. 6 Iowa City High 2

Goals - CRP: Matt Walter 1 (2), Mateus Lewis 1 (3), Caleb Halleran 2 (4); ICH: Ben Steve 1 (10), John Clark 1 (9). Assists - CRP: Boston Riley 3 (4), Matt Walter 1 (2); ICH:

John Clark 1 (3).

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com