Cedar Rapids Xavier comes up short in state soccer shootout against ADM

DES MOINES- Cedar Rapids Xavier had chances in its Class 2A girls' soccer state quarterfinal against ADM.

In 100 minutes - two full halves and two overtimes - the Saints had 23 shots, nine of which were on goal. They could not, however, finish and lost 1-0 (3-1) to the 18-2 Tigers Thursday at Cownie Soccer Park

The Saints, making a return to the tournament after narrowly missing it last season, finish the year 12-5 with more than a little bit of regret on their minds.

'I thought our girls held in there, rode luck a few times, created a lot of chances ourselves,” Xavier Coach Chris Higgins said. 'It's just a bad way to settle a game, two good teams. Unfortunately one has to go home.”

The game was a defensive slugfest, both ways. The Tigers sent shot after shot toward keeper Melody Snow in the first half - 11, to be exact. Four of them were on goal and Snow was busy in net.

For the most part the backline held, though, and none of Snow's saves were made while she was in a dire position. Xavier spent a lot of time defending and as a result it only put three of its first-half shots on goal.

'Xavier was solid all around, but we went into this knowing we were solid all around too this year,” ADM Coach Kelsey Gaffney said. 'We're deep and we knew we'd have to use lots of players.”

ADM had three great opportunities in the middle of the second half. In the 52nd minute, Tiger midfielder Delaney Barton sent a shot flying toward the net from around 15 feet out. The ball hit the top crossbar and corner, usually the type of ball that drops in the net and is a goal.

Somehow, someway, the ball bounced out at just the right angle for Xavier, which was able to clear it. Ten minutes later, ADM again threatened. A corner kick (the Tigers had 10 - Xavier had just one) put the ball down near the goal and a redirect from another ADM player put the ball within inches of the goal line.

It spun around and stopped, then was cleared, once again, by Xavier. The Saints were hardly able to counterattack and when they did, they were short-lived attempts and it ended with just two shots on goal during the second half.

'It was a little frustrating. We have fantastic service and we're lucky with that,” Gaffney said. 'It's just about how hungry we are.”

With neither team able to do much in overtime, the game went to a penalty-kick shootout. Xavier hit the first shot, but then missed the next three in a row.

ADM, meanwhile, had its first shot saved, before sinking in the next three and punching its ticket to the semifinals.

'If you leave things to chance, you see the end result,” Higgins said. 'We hoped to get a breakaway near the end, but we just couldn't quite get it.”

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