Dominant midfield for West

IOWA CITY - Iowa City West Coach Brad Stiles was able to breath a sigh of relief after the game.

His top-seeded Trojans struggled to score, but ultimately defeated Linn-Mar, 2-0, in a boys' soccer substate semifinal Wednesday night. Senior Alex Troester netted both goals for the Trojans, who controlled the game with a dominant midfield anchored by junior Mueng Sunday.

“The second goal always helps things,” Stiles said. “A third and fourth would've made things a lot easier. I told these guys at halftime (Linn-Mar's goalkeeper) must have magnets in his gloves. We just couldn't find the back of the net.”

But all that changed when Sunday dribbled past two Linn-Mar defenders and crossed the ball to an open Troester for a one-touch finish with 19 minutes left in the first half.

“You kind of get a queasy feeling when you keep missing opportunities,” Troester said.

“You just have to keep trying.”

At the other end of the pitch, Linn-Mar's offense was stagnant for most of the game, relying on long-balls that caused little trouble for the West defense.

A bright spot for Linn-Mar, sophomore goalkeeper Jared Belin produced acrobatic save after save. He had to. From the opening whistle, he was taking it in the teeth.

A phrase turned into reality when a close-range rocket from Trojan forward Steve Kim smashed him in the braces. Rattled for a moment, he spit out the blood and returned to his duties.

It appeared to energize Belin, who was more aggressive afterward.

But his heroics proved fruitless.

Eight minutes later, Troester scored his second goal off a nice give-and-go at the top of the box with 24 minutes left in the game.

West will play Cedar Rapids Kennedy at noon Saturday for a ticket to the state tournament. The game is at West.