Hungry Iowa City West avenges loss to Pleasant Valley in state quarterfinals

DES MOINES — The Class 3A quarterfinal game between fifth-ranked Iowa City West and fourth-ranked Pleasant Valley was supposed to be close. It was not.

The Women of Troy ran roughshod over the Spartans, scoring three first-half goals and dominating possession en route to a 3-0 victory.

'They are the best team in the state, and if you're going to beat Iowa City West you have to hope they have a bad day and you're playing your best game,' Pleasant Valley Coach Richard Markham said. 'They were hungry. They've been here before. They're the defending state champions. They put pressure on us, and obviously the best team won.'

West (17-3) will play top-ranked Kennedy (20-0) Friday at 5:15 p.m.

This was more of the same kind of dominating attack that West showed in the regional games against Jefferson and Bettendorf.

'We've been progressing, getting better and better each game,' Regan Steigleder said.

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'We came out and we knew they'd be a little cocky because they beat us (in the first game of the season), and we wanted to avenge that loss,' Emma Cooper said.

Steigleder and Cooper were everywhere, passing and setting up shots as West worked the ball outside and in and stretched the defense. Cooper's pass to Payton Pottratz led to the latter's goal in the 14th minute.

'I saw it was packed (on the left) so I went to the other side and immediately got the ball,' Pottratz said. 'I started taking touches. There were a couple girls who came out so I kept playing around. I saw the back line and I saw the front post and I just kicked it and hoped.'

Marissa Frisbie scored in the 20th minute off a rebound of a Cooper shot, and then Steigleder got the coup de grace on a gorgeous shot into the upper left corner after she cut across the box to the right for a 3-0 halftime margin.

West's defense and midfielders prevented any kind of counter attack and had forwards consistently marked. It was not close.