Kennedy stops West this time

By Mike Condon

Correspondent

CEDAR RAPIDS - A lack of aggression on offense wasn't going to be the reason.

In their meeting with Cedar Rapids Washington to close the regular season last Thursday, a failure to finish was fatal for Cedar Rapids Kennedy in a 1-0 defeat.

That wasn't a problem in Wednesday night's Class 3A substate semifinal at Kingston Stadium.

The Cougars needed just four minutes to get on the board and dominated most of the way en route to a 4-1 victory. Kennedy (9-8) is one win away from a return trip to the state tournament, but it will take a win Saturday on the road over top-ranked Iowa City West in the substate final to get there. West advanced last night with a 2-0 win over Linn-Mar.

Washington closes its season at 11-8.

"During practice this week we really focused on our offense and goal scoring," said senior forward Tyler Pape, who scored a pair of goals for the Cougars. "We really focused on coming out hard in the first 10 minutes of the second half and it worked out for us."

It didn't hurt the Cougar cause to see a few bounces go their way as well. On Kennedy's first goal, Washington goalie Hunter Loushin made a solid save on the initial shot, but had the ball squirt away right to senior Riley Galbraith, who fired the ball into an open net for a 1-0 lead.

The Warriors tied the game a few minutes later when Kimu Kasha converted a penalty kick.

Pape gave Kennedy the lead for good when he launched a perfectly-placed shot off a free kick just outside the penalty area that went over the outstretched arm of a lunging Loushin.

"The ball kinda bounced their way in the box," said Washington Coach J.P. Graham. "We had a couple chances to tie the game at 2-2 and we didn't take advantage of it. That gave them a little momentum and they took advantage of it."

Pape was again the man doing the damages. Early in the second half, he took a beautiful feed from Eric Bertroche, sliding it past Loushin for a 3-1 lead.

"I don't score many," Pape said with a laugh. "It felt pretty good."

With the Warriors forced to take a few more chances, the Cougars added their final tally on a goal from freshman Mark Schulz.

The task Saturday will be a big one for the Cougars against a 17-1 West team, whose only loss was an overtime setback early in the season against Washington.

"We can't really worry about them," said Pape. "We just have to focus on our game and see what we can do."