Linn-Mar girls end long losing streak to Xavier

MARION—The Linn-Mar girls' soccer team shed 10 years of frustration Thursday by beating Xavier 1-0. Lion stalwarts Jensen Sevening and Olivia Garcia swung each other around in a hug celebrating the end of the long losing streak at the hands of the Saints.

But it wasn't easy. Sophomore Claire Larson dribbled the ball from the left to the right, turned and fired a shot into the right corner of the net with just 4 minutes, 16 seconds left in the match to break the tie.

'We just never gave up and used all the strength we had,' Larson said. 'We wore them down. It's a huge win.'

Linn-Mar's (10-0, 9-0) defense has only given up two goals all season.

'I've played club with all of them and they've played together for awhile, so they know each other really good,' Xavier senior forward Marisa Berutti said.

'We kept up the pressure; we wanted to win so badly; we had so much heart,' Linn-Mar senior defender Michal Christopher said. 'Our midfield and offense did a great job of keeping the ball on their half.'

The Lions were not threatened in the second half, but they barely escaped Xavier's best chance to score late in the first half. The Saints (5-5, 5-3) had a corner kick that was deflected and bounced around in front of the goal. A Xavier player blasted the ball, but Lion goalie Rylie Frese was exactly where she had to be and caught the ball chest high to end the threat.

'I was just freaking out,' Christopher admitted. 'It's a good thing Rylie was there. It was just a huge scramble. She's always got our back.'

'That was the one we wished we'd had because that changed the momentum,' Xavier coach Bailey Winter said.

The first half was relatively even, but the Lions dominated possession and position in the second half. They substituted more, and in the final 20 minutes it was tough for the Saints to keep up.

'We just started dying down and not talking,' Berutti said. 'They got the momentum and we couldn't connect. They're a good team. I thought we held up pretty well considering their size and they're a 3A school.'

'We were very happy with the first half,' Winter said. 'We don't have as much depth, and we had a lot of kids tracking (Lion forwards). That's hard. We had a conversation with our upper classmen. When that happens, when we get kind of flat, tired and there's time running down, that's when we need our upperclassmen to lead. So that was definitely a learning moment for them.'

Not long ago Xavier moved Lizzie Bailey to center back on defense. It may have weakened the attack some but she was magnificent on defense.