Iowa City West avoids quarterfinal upset with Emma Cooper’s OT goal

DES MOINES- It was, in short, relief for Emma Cooper when she snuck in a goal in the 88th minute to beat West Des Moines Dowling and finally put an end to a 3A girls' soccer state quarterfinal game for Iowa City West at Cownie Soccer Park.

Minutes before, she had a chance to win the game after Leah Rhodes was fouled in the box, prompting a penalty kick. It was saved. The teams played on, with West's frustration building.

They had outshot the Maroons 27-11 and had a number of chances to seal it. Eventually, however, Cooper was finally able to break through the tough Dowling (12-6) defense and put an end to what Coach Dave Rosenthal called a 'rollercoaster” of a game.

There were nerves. There was a little anger, but the final feeling of the 1-0 victory, as the Women of Troy dogpiled Cooper was pure, undiluted joy.

'Ultimately, we were just hyped,” Cooper said. 'We wanted this game. We wanted it more.”

The missed PK stuck heavily in Cooper's mind. She didn't want to miss again, though it was hardly just the senior forward who was missing shots. Fellow forwards Regan Steigleder and Leah Rhodes were missing shots and the whole team just seemed off, especially in the first 40 minutes of play.

It was pretty clear West was the better team, to be sure, but little mistakes here and there were adding up. Cooper attributed much of that to those aforementioned nerves and by halftime the Women of Troy were definitely out of sorts.

Something shifted at the break.

The team came out and played cleaner ball, getting itself into much better positions. Things were getting better, but still, finishing remained the biggest obstacle to overcome. Shots went a few feet above, to the right, to the left or were saved by Maroons keeper Sally Gaul.

'If you get the opportunity to create that many chances, you hope that you get the chance to finish at least one of those,” Rosenthal said. 'The problem is that as you miss and miss and miss, what happens to your confidence?

'I'm very glad to say our team doesn't lose their confidence.”

There were some pretty close moments. With around 25 seconds left in regulation, Dowling nearly had a goal, but keeper Katie McGrane made her third and final save of the match to keep the game scoreless.

Next up for West is 15-3 Ames in the semifinals, with the game scheduled for Friday evening at 5:15.

l Comments: jordan.hansen@thegazette.com