Jaclyn Simons tallies goal, assist in Linn-Mar win over Prairie

MARION - Prairie girls' soccer Coach Dave Kea was rummaging around in his memory to see where Linn-Mar was ranked. 'Sixteen?” he said. 'No, 11. I had 16 in my head from watching her run around so much.”

Sixteen is Linn-Mar junior Jaclyn Simons, and she was a thorn in the Hawks' feathers Thursday night in a 2-0 Lions victory.

Simons scored the first goal in the 26th minute on a through ball from Amanda Heiderscheit.

'We've really been working in practice on looking for the through balls in the defensive line,” Simons said. 'I saw a gap, and Amanda saw a gap and she sent it straight through to me.”

She was so far behind the defense, she was all alone against Prairie keeper McKenna Wilson.

'It doesn't happen too often, but she played a really good ball to me,” Simons said. 'I just closed the gap as fast as I could.”

Wilson made a play for the ball, but she didn't have a chance.

The Lions had possession most of the half, but settled for the one goal. Prairie didn't threaten at all, but that changed in the opening minutes of the second half. Still, the Hawks were unable to find the net.

Simons had an assist on the second goal in the 54th minute, firing a cross into the box that Annika Menges finished.

'I was down in the corner with one of the defensive players; we were both going for the ball,” Simons said. 'I flicked it around her over to Anni.”

'I ran onto the ball and I was looking for the back post cross,” Menges said. 'It hit my stomach first and I flipped it over (the keeper).”

Both teams came having lost only to No. 2 Kennedy and defending champion Iowa City West.

'We played really well tonight; we kept our energy up and were positive,” Simons said.

'The girls played hard,” Kea said. 'We were coming off a tough loss to Kennedy on Tuesday. The girls made some adjustments, made some changes, but it just didn't go our way. Their defensive line did a really good job.”