A ‘crazy’ win for City High

IOWA CITY - The game came down to penalty kicks.

West junior Adam Rose shot to the left. City High junior goalkeeper Sam Tomek dove to the left.

Game over.

'It's something that's really exciting,” Tomek said after the Little Hawks' 1-0 overtime boys' soccer win over West. 'It's so much adrenaline. It's crazy. (It feels) pretty amazing.”

The game was tied at 0-0 after 80 minutes and continued into two 10-minute overtime periods in which neither team could find the back of the net. The Little Hawks had a chance to score early in the game when senior Nasim Salih drew a penalty after being taken down in the box in the 14th minute. Senior Victor Brown-Rodriguez shot the penalty, but West junior Zach Frisbie made a diving save to his right to maintain the 0-0 tie.

Brown-Rodriguez got a chance to face Frisbie again as the first penalty shooter for the Little Hawks. He scored to give City High a positive start to the penalty shootout. West's first kicker followed up by putting his penalty away to tie at 1-1. After senior Collin O'Meara scored in the back of the net, the Trojans missed their second penalty. Senior Sarrive Rukakiza, who had played tough defense all game, sailed his penalty over the crossbar. The Trojans' next penalty shooter was able to score for a 2-2 tie. Both teams scored again to advance the score to 3-3. City High senior Gaby Balocci shot the fifth penalty for the Little Hawks. After Rose had his shot saved by Tomek, the student section erupted and stormed the field to mob the City High goalie.

'It feels great,” City High Coach Jose Fajardo said. 'The guys played great. They played like men again today. It's a tough game; it's always a tough game.”

Fajardo believes this victory gave the Little Hawks a chance to gain momentum going into the playoffs as the season winds down.

'I feel it's a good boost of confidence,” Fajardo said. 'We've been like this the whole year, so hopefully we just can keep this consistency and keep doing the same things we've been doing so far.”

The Little Hawks remain the only undefeated boys' soccer team in the state in Class 3A at 15-0. The Little Hawk plays Thursday against Dubuque Senior on the City High turf.

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