Cooper sends West to state soccer

IOWA CITY - Freshman Emma Cooper set up one goal and scored the other and goalkeeper Beth Crow had a spectacular leaping save to lead Iowa City West to a 2-0 victory last night over Muscatine in a regional final at Barker Field.

The tough pairing had the No. 7 Women of Troy against the eighth-ranked Muskies, both with 15-3 records coming in. It figured to be a tight match and the first half was indicative of that, ending 0-0.

'They're a terrific team; we knew that Muscatine team was going to be a problem going in,” West Coach Dave Rosenthal said. 'We knew they had a lot of pace; we knew they had a lot of athleticism. We scouted them, and they scouted us. They showed us some things we weren't quite ready for, and it took us a while to adjust.”

Just five minutes into the second half, Crow jumped high with one hand and tipped Emily Clemens' net-bound shot over the bar. In a 0-0, game such a play can make a huge difference.

'I don't know, it was just a reaction,” Crow said after the game. 'It's a goalkeeper thing. You don't really remember.”

Everyone else did.

'Talk about a timely save,” Rosenthal said. 'That ball was up there, she tipped it over the bar. That's another huge game where if she doesn't come up with that save that changes the game.

'It's a change of momentum, and this team seems to thrive on that.”

Indeed, it was just two minutes later that West broke the tie on a run by Cooper down the left side and up the end line toward the goal. At the last minute, she passed to sophomore Heelah Nadler, who kicked it into the net.

'I just decided that I was going to take players on and Heelah was wide open in the box, and it was the perfect opportunity,” Cooper said. 'I sprinted. I'm really tired. I worked really hard to get close.”

'(Cooper) is so athletic,” Rosenthal said. 'And Heelah Nadler had an incredible game. She's been frustrated this year because her goal count isn't very high. But we told her when we have an opportunity we're going to be looking at her. We told her we haven't lost faith.”

Crow was asked if she thought her save lit a fire under her teammates.

'I don't know; I'd like to think so,” she said, grinning.

Cooper scored the insurance goal in the 73rd minute on a blast from just inside the top of the box.

'I was really determined because a 1-0 lead is just such a scary score because it's so easy for them to come back,” Cooper said. 'We were determined to get back after it.”

West's defense did a good job of stopping Clemens and fellow forward Katie Shoultz. Both Muskies are seniors and outstanding multisport athletes. Crow said the two were marked and she kept encouraging her defenders to keep an eye on them.

'What we talked about, and what the girls did a pretty good job of, was not allowing them to set them up,” Rosenthal said. 'Deny the service. Don't let them get the touches. We played a drop-back defense and that seemed to work for us tonight.”