Jefferson snaps long boys' soccer losing streak to Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS — Nobody in blue could remember the last time Jefferson's boys' soccer team defeated Kennedy, but the J-Hawk seniors knew it hadn't been during their tenure.

Maybe that little extra motivation helped the J-Hawks as they tied the game with just 3 minutes left in regulation and won in overtime, 2-1.

'Us being seniors, we've played Kennedy all four years, and we've never won,' goalie Caleb Kesterson said. 'We've fought every game with them, but we've never come out on top.'

Kennedy (3-7, 3-7) took the lead on a beautiful goal by Alex Stone off a corner from Luis Granadillo in the 26th minute. That goal stood until a hand ball set up a free kick from 27 yards out by Cody Christofferson.

Jefferson set up a play, and Christofferson nudged the ball to Mac Karr.

'I made the initial run, hit the initial shot, and then Eli (Sarantakos) was there to follow up and finish it,' Karr said. 'He was in the right place.'

'The coaches have been dogging us about making a third run and then we finally do it and it pays off,' Sarantakos said. 'So I think we'll be doing that more often.'

Needless to say that changed the emotional makeup of the game.

'I was just jacked,' Kesterton said. 'It's a team that everybody thinks is going to walk all over us, and we came out strong and we fought with them the whole game.'

With 3 minutes left in overtime Sarantakos took a through pass from Gledi Mahungu, shot right of the keeper and into the net.

'Things just fell into place,' Sarantakos said. 'I just made the run and put the ball in the goal. A lot of emotions came out.'

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Jefferson (3-7, 4-9) put constant pressure on Kennedy's defense in the second half, but the Cougars were packed in, and the J-Hawks seldom got shots on goal.

'All the way back to Iowa City West, the defense has been solid and strong,' Kennedy Coach Mike Robertson said. 'Offensively we've just got to take care of that. It's a lot to ask to sit there for that long and defend.'