Iowa City West rolls past Valley in boys’ state soccer quarterfinals

DES MOINES — Iowa City West’s postseason success rolls on.

The fourth-ranked Trojans defeated No. 5 West Des Moines Valley, 4-2, Wednesday in a Class 4A boys’ state soccer quarterfinal at Cownie Soccer Park.

West (20-2) got on the board early as Daniel Fuentes converted a penalty kick less than two minutes into the contest.

“I think a lot of it is game planning by (Coach Brad) Stiles, he set us up really well to succeed,” Fuentes said. “We had a good warmup, and we were ready to score first and win.”

The Trojans added another goal in the fifth minute as Fuentes found Kaleab Wendy, who danced past a defender in the box and scored.

“We’ve done a really good job of staying together and playing as a team,” Fuentes said. “We keep getting better because we are working hard every day in practice together.”

Valley’s Eric Foust answered with a goal that went in off the post.

The Trojans added an insurance goal with 21:16 left on a Fuentes cross that was deflected and fell to Wendy, who drilled it into the back of the net.

“We are motivated,” Fuentes said. “We want to go back to where we were at (last year’s state championship) and win that game this year.”

Tiago Gonzalez added another goal for West with 13:55 left.

“I think that the best satisfaction out there tonight was watching Tiago score a goal,” Stiles said. “He’s really had a drought for the last month, and all he wants to do is help the team. I’m happy for him that one rolled in.”

The Tigers (18-4) added a score late.

In their 24th state tournament appearance, the Trojans will take on top-ranked Johnston in Friday’s semifinals at 4 p.m. at Mediacom Stadium. The Dragons, double-overtime winners over Iowa City High on Wednesday, beat West in double-overtime in last year’s state title game and again on May 11.

“The ultimate goal is to play well and have a little luck on our side because that’s what I know it’s going to take to keep winning,” Stiles said. “We’ve got some guys nicked up and hopefully a day of rest is going to make the difference.”