Ezugusi leads Linn-Mar Lions boys soccer past City High Little Hawks

IOWA CITY - Fleet sophomore Leroy Ezugusi got behind City High's defense twice and scored as the Linn-Mar boys' soccer team clinched the MVC's Valley division title with a 2-0 victory Friday over the Little Hawks.

Linn-Mar (9-2, 13-2) is three games ahead of second-place Iowa City West with two to play.

Ezugusi broke free in pursuit of a bouncing ball in the 35th minute. City keeper Daniel Goldenstein came away from the net to cut him off, but Ezugusi was able to get his head on the ball and popped it over Goldenstein and into the goal.

'I thought (City's) Adam (Nicholson) was going to catch it, but I got there before him and headed it over their goalie,” Ezugusi said. 'If I could get it over him I knew I had it, and even if I didn't I knew Bobby (Charlton) was there to finish it.”

'Huge,” Lions Coach Corey Brinkmeyer said of the first goal. 'We played physical we didn't let them get in our heads. We played our style and to get that early goal, that's been big for us.”

City's season-opening victory over Linn-Mar at Muscatine served as motivation, but it was the Lions' speed up top that made the difference.

'We've got a lot of speed to burn and we got a couple of chances and we put them away,” Brinkmeyer said.

Ezugusi scored again in the 66th minute as he broke through on a feed from Ben Johnson.

'Daniel (Luzindya) made the run to take the defender away and I made the run to where Ben could play it,” Ezugusi said. 'I had all the time in the world. I couldn't mess it up.”

This was City's (8-3, 12-3) third loss in the last four games, albeit all to ranked teams.

'Here's the reality: we are not worse than the teams we are playing,” Coach Jose Fajardo said. 'We just need to stop giving goals away.

'We are not Santa.”