West loaded with experience, confidence in pursuit of repeat girls' soccer title

IOWA CITY — A season ago the Iowa City West girls' soccer team was something of a mystery. The Women of Troy were a talented, precocious bunch of underclassmen to be sure, but a team missing players that had been four-year mainstays.

"We expected a really, really tough time," senior co-captain Katie Olson said. 'We lost (all-state mid) Ally Peterson and our keeper (Beth Crow) and a lot of senior leadership. We weren't very confident going in.'

'We weren't doubting necessarily, it was just being nervous about what we lost,' co-captain Payton Pottratz said.

Coach Dave Rosenthal felt good about his team's soccer knowledge, soccer talent, and athleticism.

'One of our questions was were we going to be deep enough?' he said. 'Were we going to be healthy enough? And how was our chemistry going to be? I was most worried about the chemistry.'

Those questions were answered in a hurry.

'I think it was right after the first game. We were all extremely surprised with the connection,' Pottratz said. 'That's when we realized the chemistry and how much strength we actually had. The coaches even acted a little shocked, too, because of the players we'd lost.'

'Once we started winning a couple games we thought, 'Oh, this is a lot better than we expected,'' Olson said.

Off they ran to a perfect 13-0 Mississippi Valley Conference season and a gutsy run through the playoffs to the school's second state championship. The team's only two losses came late in the season when a number of players were gone to honor club commitments.

'They came together amazingly well,' Rosenthal said. 'I don't take credit for that. It was all in the girls, and they showed amazing leadership.'

If there remained any doubt about the skill, maturity and tenacity of this team, West quashed it by winning three one-goal nailbiters at state, including a double-overtime victory over Waukee in the quarterfinal.

'There's some definite competitive drive in a lot of these girls,' Rosenthal said. 'It's not just one or two trying to carry the rest of the team. And it kind of self-perpetuates after awhile.'

While the team has two of the best scorers in the state in all-state juniors Regan Steigleder and Emma Cooper, Pottratz credited the team defense, which she described as strong but 'strong at the right moments,' as key in close games.

With all the starters returning this season West has a different challenge in trying to repeat.

Soccer Preview: Girls' teams, players to watch | Boys' teams, players to watch

West will no longer be the new kids on the block but will be the defending champions and ranked No. 1 to start the season even with last year's 2A champ Ankeny and 2A runner-up Pleasant Valley moving to 3A.

The Women of Troy look at it differently however.

'It means a lot because this is the last time we get to play with close friends; it's the final hurrah to play with kids you've played with your whole life,' Pottratz said. 'That motivates you to give it your all.'

Olson said the team is doing its best to remember every team starts the season in the same place. They haven't accomplished anything yet, and they are not assuming anything.

'Each team will present something new for us,' she said.

'The main thing is keeping the attitude as similar as possible to last year,' Pottratz said. 'You never know with other teams because we shocked everyone last year.'

Rosenthal's teams traditionally peak at the end of the season. That gives West more to shoot for.

'We feel like we're fresh, and we have something to prove every time we step on to the field,' Rosenthal said. 'We want them to be healthy competitors, and they do take care of that themselves. They police themselves; they want to get better.'