116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Linn-Mar can’t keep up with Johnston on the scoreboard in girls’ state soccer quarterfinals
Dragons advance to semifinals, deny Lions a first win at state, 5-0
DES MOINES — The tackles were solid. The passes were crisp. The finishing just never arrived for Linn-Mar’s girls’ soccer team Wednesday.
It did for Johnston. Over and over.
Third-ranked Johnston (14-4) withstood a number of early Linn-Mar chances, took the lead midway through the first half, then scored four goals in a 13-minute second-half span to beat No. 6 Linn-Mar, 5-0, in a Class 3A girls’ state soccer quarterfinal game Wednesday at Cownie Soccer Park.
“We knew we were going to have our hands full,” Linn-Mar Coach Marco de Leon said. “We just didn’t expect it to finish 5-0.”
Drake commit Isabella Balsley was involved in all five goals — but the Dragons’ leading scorer didn’t find the net herself.
Emma Friedman knocked the ball away from Balsley in the box, but it fell right to Kailey Elyea, who put it in off the crossbar for the opening goal in the 20th minute.
Balsley went back to work early in the second half, beating everyone to the ball and centering it to Lydia Luo to make it 2-0. Luo scored again less than two minutes later when Balsley stepped away from the ball to give her a cleaner look. Balsley added two more assists, to Mila Felbapov and Elyea.
“It felt like I was marked pretty well,” Balsley said. “The extra passes opened. I found my teammates and they put it in the back of the net.”
Meanwhile, Linn-Mar’s Abi Roberts pressed for a turnover, struck a well-driven shot ... and saw it saved by a diving Meredith Downs. Shelby Lake’s free kick hit the crossbar. Athena Sheets nearly lost her footing as she took on multiple defenders, but got past Downs and recovered for an open shot ... only for Johnston center back Taryn Theilen to clear it off the line.
“It’s tough,” de Leon said. “5-0 is a score that I don’t feel really resembled how the game went. That’s just the game of soccer. I feel like it was pretty even, going back and forth on both sides. It’s just they were able to capitalize on some and we weren’t. Credit to them.”
Linn-Mar (16-4) will continue searching for a state tournament victory after making its eighth appearance and first since 2019.
The Lions dominated the Mississippi Valley Conference, outscoring 12 opponents 84-0 this season. But in a Class 3A with six state qualifiers and all four semifinalists from the CIML, Linn-Mar’s nine returning starters know what it takes to win in Des Moines.
“They’re able to kind of get a taste of what it’s like,” de Leon said. “Hopefully they can build on that going forward.”
Comments: nathan.ford@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters