Class 4A Iowa boys’ state soccer first-round scores: Iowa City West shuts down Cedar Rapids Kennedy

DES MOINES — The first-ever Class 4A Iowa high school boys’ state soccer quarterfinal was worth the wait.

Iowa City West wasted no time getting on the scoresheet once Wednesday’s games simultaneously kicked off at 7:30 p.m. after being postponed due to lightning the night before.

Kaleab Wendy tracked down a ball over the top and calmly placed it in the back of the net in the fifth minute. The response wasn’t so calm — West’s entire team swarmed Wendy in celebration, then kept swarming Cedar Rapids Kennedy (12-3) players on the field throughout the night.

Sixth-ranked West (13-2) is responsible for two of No. 10 Kennedy’s three losses this season.

“My worry was that we weren’t able to replicate that effort (in a 3-1 regular-season win) again, but we came pretty close tonight, especially on a big stage and lots of nerves,” West Coach Brad Stiles said.

Michael Nelson basically duplicated Wendy’s goal to double the lead in the 33rd minute.

“It’s definitely, I wouldn’t say harder to play the second time, but you definitely have to take care of business because they know what we’re doing and we know what they’re doing, too,” Nelson said.

The Trojans will be right back here at 7:10 p.m. Thursday night to face No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling in a semifinal game. The Maroons (16-2) rallied past Ames, 2-1, Wednesday with two Jonathan Mendez goals in the final 10 minutes.

Kennedy couldn’t produce the chances for a similar comeback one field over. West center backs Amre Ibrahim and Ruichar Medina helped make sure of that.

“Our center backs are studs,” Stiles said. “They’re not letting it bounce. They’re getting the first touches. I’m not quite sure they even had a foul tonight and they had to deal with (Lwings Kabula), who’s a serious handful. To keep him off the scoresheet is a testament to our back line and Jacob Gilliam, the keeper.”

Johnston finds the net against Prairie this time

Johnston was frustrated for 100 minutes of soccer in last year’s Class 3A state quarterfinals against Cedar Rapids Prairie. The Hawks went on to knock off the Dragons in a penalty shootout.

When the programs met again in this year’s quarterfinals, third-ranked Johnston wrote the story of the game in a couple minutes.

Just after the water break midway through the first half, Prairie’s Aidan Neumann made a diving save, only to see Colby Davis crash the 6-yard box for a 21st-minute tap-in. A little over a minute later, Carlos Martinez doubled the advantage. Kody Ngo sealed it with a second-half penalty kick.

The Dragons were the only team to score three goals against Prairie (15-3) this season. Only Iowa City West scored two, and that was in a Prairie win.

Johnston (16-3) will take on No. 11 Ankeny Centennial (10-5) in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Jaguars stunned top-ranked West Des Moines Valley, 2-0. Ty Duax converted a PK in the first half, then Andrew Heckenlaible scored less than two minutes into the second half.

Class 4A boys’ state soccer quarterfinal scores

No. 11 Ankeny Centennial 2, No. 1 West Des Moines Valley 0

No. 3 Johnston 3, No. 5 Cedar Rapids Prairie 0

No. 6 Iowa City West 2, No. 10 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 0

No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling 2, No. 7 Ames 1

Here are the updated boys’ state soccer brackets.

Comments: nathan.ford@thegazette.com