Cedar Rapids Xavier rolls over Prairie in boys’ soccer

CEDAR RAPIDS - This was a battle to stay alive in the race for the MVC Mississippi Division title between ranked teams with 9-2 league records. It ended in a rout.

Xavier led Prairie 2-0 at halftime and then poured it on for a 7-1 victory Tuesday at Heco Field. The victory leaves the 2A second-ranked Saints (11-2, 10-2 MVC) one game back of Dubuque Hempstead with one game to play. The Mustangs play at Iowa City West Friday. It also puts Xavier in position to be a top seed at the state tournament should it reach Des Moines.

'We didn't really expect it to be 7-1, but we were pretty confident coming in with our game plan and the way we've been playing that we could beat them,” Xavier senior Connor Ramlo said.

'Playing this late in the year helped us,” Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic. 'We really are coming together at the right time. This is what our team is capable of. Obviously a lot was on the line.

'Prairie is a tough, physical team, and they play really well when they are ahead. The couple games they lost, the other teams were ahead and I think they don't have as much offensively to respond to that.”

Prairie never led. The Saints scored on Mason Hoxie's header in the 24th minute and got a second goal with just two minutes left in the half when Lucas Duball dribbled down the left side and fired from a severe angle. The ball hit the far post and went into the net for a 2-0 halftime lead.

'We just missed a couple marks,” Prairie Coach Curt Lewis said. 'We knew they were going to press us and how they were going to run. The one right before halftime killed us.”

Xavier's Nolan Armstrong scored a controversial goal just four minutes into the second half.

'We get the shove in the back and the third goal, and it was pretty evident we weren't going to turn anything in the middle with (the referee),” Lewis said. 'We lost our composure a little bit.”

Four yellow cards were issued in the second half alone.

The Saints scored again on Lukas Koechner's cross to Joshua Hoffmann in the 50th minute. Xavier added goals by Armstrong, William Hanigan and Koechner. Logan Rinderknecht scored Prairie's goal in the 63rd minute.

Prairie (11-3, 9-3) has shut out 11 opponents. In its three losses it has been outscored 15-2.