Xavier qualifies for seventh straight boys' soccer state tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS — On a chilly, misty Saturday afternoon, nine Cedar Rapids Xavier boys' soccer players stepped onto Heco Field for the final time.

Despite the cloudy skies, the sun never looked brighter for them as they punched their ticket to another Class 2A boys' state soccer tournament. No. 2 Xavier dispatched Clear Creek-Amana, 4-0.

'It's a little bittersweet,' Saints senior Connor Ramlo said. 'We have lots of great memories here. It's definitely great to go out on a win.'

'It's a little surreal,' Saints senior Luke Koechner said.

Koechner got the Saints rolling with a goal 5 minutes, 45 seconds into the contest, giving Xavier a 1-0 lead. The Saints continued to pile on the pressure, crashing the goalie box at every opportunity.

'I think we just played with our usual game plan,' Koechner said. 'We moved the ball around, passed, and eventually scored.'

Clipper goalie Miles Lucas made several stops, but Xavier's Wi0ll Hanigan capitalized on a rebound off Lucas to put the Saints up 2-0.

'We wanted to come out strong and establish our game plan in the first 10 to 15 minutes,' Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic said.

Koechner scored his second goal late in the first half to put the Saints in control with a 3-0 halftime lead.

'I think the third goal at the end of the half kind of sealed the deal for us,' said Hadzic.

The Clippers needed to respond, but had a tough time finding the right gear offensively. Clear Creek-Amana played without leading scorer Jon Jacobson, and Coach Tim Benson said losing a leader on the field hurt the Clippers.

'We knew we were going to be in for a tough game, but our guys never gave up,' Benson said. 'I'm proud of the effort.'

Xavier senior Joshua Hoffmann added a late second half goal to send the Saints to their seventh consecutive state tournament.

'It's a really special group of seniors,' said Hadzic. 'Just tremendous leadership and a great group of kids. We hope they will lead this young group in Des Moines as well.'

Xavier will meet ADM in the Class 2A quarterfinals Thursday at 2:35 p.m.