Iowa City West tops C.R. Washington in MVC boys’ soccer opener

IOWA CITY — Two teams looking for further progress after a good showing in a weekend tournament both got what they wanted. But only one got the victory.

Third-ranked Iowa City West showed signs of returning to the kind of play that led it to multiple state championships, defeating Cedar Rapids Washington 3-1 at chilly Barker Field.

The Trojans (4-0, 1-0) struck in the 10th minute on a beautiful pass from Will Reinhardt to Nicholas Pitcher. Reinhardt, the right back, was just past midfield and fired a pass that led Pitcher as he crossed from left to right. Pitcher angled the ball sharply into the net.

'I just found a gap of open space and then he played me the ball and then I got it down and tucked it in,' Pitcher said.

'There was progress,' West Coach Brad Stiles said. 'They were still doing the right things. I was pretty satisfied tonight because we were missing maybe five guys off the bench with illness.'

West had possession most of the first half and scored again on a penalty kick by Khalid Osman in the 37th minute. Osman added a goal just before half, heading in a free kick from Conor Zielinski.

'He put it right where he needed to put it,' Stiles said of Zielinski's kick.

Warriors coach J.P. Graham thought West was offside on the play, which was a killer.

'When you give up two goals in the last three minutes it's brutal,' he said.

Washington (2-2, 0-1) scored on a free kick by Ethan Hammer from the far left of the field and just inside the halfway line in the 70th minute. The boot sailed high and bent just enough, took a bounce and went in.

'I thought in the second half we settled down and got the ball down and started knocking it around better,' Graham said. 'The last 10 minutes it was a sudden switch. We started competing a little more and started playing a little more angry.

'I kind of like where we're at right now. It's something we can build on.'