Iowa City West hands Cedar Rapids Prairie first loss in state soccer shootout

DES MOINES- Anton N'Dayishimiye needed the penalty kick.

In order for Iowa City West to win, he had to make it. If he missed, the sudden death shootout would continue. Top-seeded Cedar Rapids Prairie would have yet another chance to knock off the eighth-seeded Trojans after two halves, two overtimes, and a five-kick shootout weren't enough to decide the game.

Stepping up to the ball, he kicked it. As the ball sailed through the air, a whistle blew. It didn't count, as N'Dayishimiye sent the ball flying before the referee whistled to signal the start of the kick.

The ball hit the crossbar and bounced out. Hawks keeper Chase Harrison looked on, shaking his head.

N'Dayishimiye got the ball back, set it down and repeated the process. This time he waited for the whistle. This time the ball went in.

This time, West won, 2-1 (6-5 in penalty kicks).

'I was so nervous,” N'Dayishimiye said. 'This was just nice. This was the biggest team in the state, the best team in the state.”

Seconds before, senior West keeper Zach Frisbie made one of the biggest stops of his life. Prairie sophomore Andrew Russell - who had seven goals on the season - stepped up to the penalty spot and sent a ball toward the right side of the goal.

Using every inch of his lanky frame, Frisbie stretched out and tipped the ball with his fingertips. No score.

'When I got up there, I just tried to get big, get in their head a little bit,” Frisbie said. 'I managed to read that last one, kind of got in his head and figured out what he was going to try and do.”

An extremely defensive game, just two goals were scored during regulation. Prairie's Matt Walter snuck one past Frisbie midway through the first half. It was his 16th goal of the season and a nice shot from the left side of the field.

Neither team had much success getting the ball into a position to be sent into the net throughout the rest of the game. West did put plenty of pressure on Hawks keeper Chase Harrison, who made seven saves out of eight shots on goal.

Four of them came in the first half, however, and Trojan head coach Brad Stiles only really considered the final one to be a quality look.

It was a doozy.

With 1:17 left in the second half and West trailing 1-0, Nick Raley used his head to send a ball past Harrison. It was a dagger to Prairie's heart and seemed to stun the Hawks for both overtimes.

'It's sometimes just a matter of where the ball bounces,” Stiles said. 'That's a good team and a good program and we're just happy to be where we are.”

l Comments: jordan.hansen@thegazette.com