Iowa City West tops No. 4 Hempstead to end impressive week

IOWA CITY - This has been a pretty good week for the defending champion Iowa City West girls' soccer team. Monday it outlasted archrival City High in overtime and last night it handled No. 4-ranked Dubuque Hempstead, 3-1.

'City and Hempstead have really good teams, so it's really important for our team to keep moving forward,” senior Katie Olson said.

'We started off a little bumpy,” senior Payton Pottratz said. 'I think we've got it back, just the positivity on the field and the support and the organization.”

West is 11-1 in the MVC and 13-3 overall and has seemingly weathered the combined storm of injuries and the pressure of trying to repeat. Not only was the offense in fine form, but the defense kept the Mustangs off the scoreboard until the 74th minute when Maggie Kratz lofted a 30-yard shot over the keeper and into the net.

'I think we were just really organized,” Olson said. 'We knew where each of their players was and when to step and which to cover. We were really focusing on where everyone should shift.”

West's back line of Olson, Claire McDonnell, Alexis Shaffer and Morgan Schmitt-Morris was vigilant but also got help from forwards and mids.

'We were off,” Mustang Coach Shannon Ford said. 'That's a good team, though. We were off because of their pressure. We struggled to get the ball out of our half at times, and when we were connecting passes it was that last pass. You've got to test the keeper, and we did not.”

West got goals from Pottratz, Emma Cooper and Regan Steigleder. Pottratz's goal came in the 32nd minute.

'Katie passed it right to me and I just took one touch and it kind of chipped and then it dipped; I thought it was going over,” Pottratz said.

Leading 1-0 at half, Cooper's goal on a counterattack in the 55th minute gave the Women of Troy some breathing room. Steigleder's came in the 61st minute as she worked to free herself, turned and scored from 30 yards out front.

Hempstead is 10-2, 12-3. Both teams have one MVC game remaining.