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Redemption for Linn-Mar to advance to girls’ state semifinals
Linn-Mar defeats West Des Moines Valley after being knocked out by the Tigers in 2024 to reach the Iowa girls’ soccer state semifinals
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AMES — Goosebumps.
For the first time in program history, the Linn-Mar girls’ soccer team has a state tournament victory.
The Class 3A seventh-ranked Lions (16-3) downed No. 2 West Des Moines Valley (15-3-2), 3-0, in a quarterfinal match Tuesday at Lied Recreation Fields in Ames.
“We’re never made it past this moment here,” Linn-Mar Coach Hannah Clark said. “We’re super excited. I have goosebumps right now.”
“We’ve worked so hard all year and it’s finally paying off,” senior Abi Roberts said. “It’s definitely special.”
Roberts helped ignite the scoring for Linn-Mar, delivering a dime on a cross to junior Aubrey Luck who headed it home at the 16-minute mark of the first half.
“Aubrey did a great job to get into the box there,” Roberts said. “I just saw her wide open. In a game versus (Iowa City) Liberty, we had a similar chance. I knew she could get up and get a head on it, so I sent it there for her.”
With 12:11 left in the first, Roberts — typically a right-footed striker — launched a left-footed missile to extend Linn-Mar’s lead.
“Yesterday (Monday) I was at FC United’s indoor facility, and I worked on that exact shot with my left foot, from my right to left,” Roberts said. “It paid off today. Just the repetitiveness made it almost came naturally.
“It was probably the best left-foot goal I've ever scored. I was surprised myself.”
Roberts entered Tuesday’s contest as 3A’s third-leading scorer with 38 goals.
She added on to that total, drilling a more familiar right-footed strike with 21:11 remaining.
“I think everyone played extremely well,” Clark said. “Abi was able to put two away. Aubrey had one and assisted the rest for Abi.”
As a team, Linn-Mar is 3A’s top offense by a wide margin.
The Lions’ 93 goals entering Tuesday’s match were 29 more than the next closest team (Iowa City Liberty, 64). They also lead 3A in assists.
“They’ve worked really, really hard this season — training-wise, game-wise, it’s been a lot of fun,” Clark said. “I’m just super proud of them.”
While offense might be what they’re best known for, Linn-Mar’s defense was stellar Tuesday.
“Our defenders, they’re so good,” Clark said. “They’re aggressive. They’re fast. And they played really well together tonight.
“That’s what we talked about, because the last time we played Valley, we kind of fell apart in places defensively. We knew we needed to overcommunicate and do all the things right win today.”
Valley defeated Linn-Mar, 4-0, on April 4 and ended the Lions’ 2024 season with a 2-0 state quarterfinal win.
“It’s crazy to come back and play Valley again because they kicked us out of the state tournament last year and they’ve been a tremendous team,” Clark said. “I think we just had a chip on our shoulder today.”
Next up for the Lions is a semifinal matchup against Ankeny Centennial on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. in Ames.
“We definitely have to be excited about what we just did here, but focus on resting and recovering tonight to be ready for Thursday,” Roberts said.
“It's going to take everyone being together on the team,” Clark said. “Everyone plays their parts in different ways and everybody played their part to get us here and to continue, so we're super excited.”
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