Prairie sneaks past Washington in substate semifinals, 1-0

CEDAR RAPIDS — It was one of the most evenly-matched games Cedar Rapids Prairie had played all year long — and Coach David Kea expected that.

Earlier in the season, the Hawks squeaked out a 1-0 win against Cedar Rapids Washington in a near-even bout that went down to the wire. Wednesday night brought a very similar game to the turf at Prairie High School.

While the two teams were neck and neck nearly the entire match, a goal from Prairie freshman Bailey Burlingham early in the second half gave the Hawks the push they needed to once again beat the Warriors 1-0 in the Class 3A substate semifinals.

'(Washington) is a stellar team who brought a lot to the field,' Kea said. 'We knew they were going to be a competition. They were a competition the first time we played them. We've improved. They've improved. It was a great game. It was a battle all around.'

Washington, though, nearly sneaked back in to tie the game at the very end. With 20 seconds left on the clock, the Warriors set up a free kick just outside the box. While the ball nearly found the back of the net, the Prairie keeper pounced on the ball just ahead of the goal line, securing the win.

'I just about had a heart attack (at the end),' Burlingham said. 'I was just hoping that we pulled through, got to every ball and just got it out of there as quick as we could.'

That wasn't the only Washington offensive that the Hawks (9-8) held off. In the last 10 minutes, the Warriors (10-7) had several shots on goal that could have equalized the score and sent the game into overtime.

And while Kea said he knows those plays could have gone either way — especially the final free kick — he's just happy his team had enough left in the tank to finish the game.

'It comes down to heart, that's really all it is,' Kea said. 'You get into that, especially that free kick, you build the wall and hope that they miskick. In that case, it went toward the middle instead of straight at the goal, and we held them off. The girls just wanted to play hard. They stepped up in the second half and they played well.'

Prairie will now take on No. 3 Iowa City West on Monday with a trip to the state tournament on the line. The Women of Troy beat Clinton 10-0 on Wednesday to earn their spot in the substate finals, and will be a tough challenge for the Hawks.

But after their win on Wednesday, Burlingham said the Hawks aren't worried.

'(We're) getting the feeling of knowing we can do it,' Burlingham said. 'It builds our confidence to get that next win to go to state.

'We need to have good intense practices leading up to that (game) and really give it our all no matter what.'

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