State woes for City

DES MOINES - To say that the state tournament has not been kind to Iowa City High would be an understatement.

Iowa City High's Luke Mennen (15) lies on the field after the Little Hawks' 0-1 loss to West Des Moines Valley in their Class 3A quarterfinal game at the state soccer tournament on Thursday, May 31, 2012, at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines. Norwalk won a shootout.(Liz Martin/The Gazette-KCRG)

The Little Hawks could record a country album with all the heartbreak they've had.

Two years ago, the Little Hawks lost to cross-town rivals Iowa City West in the final. Last year, they didn't even make it to state when they were upset in the substate final. And this year, second-seeded City High was upset 1-0 by No. 7 West Des Moines Valley in the first round.

The teams played Thursday. The explosive Little Hawk offense, fueled by forwards Fernando Pacheco and Tyler Chavez were shut out. Valley's only goal came with nine minutes left, when the City High goal keeper appeared to catch a cross, only to drop the ball onto the waiting foot of Jordan Lucas for the tap in. The constant drizzle was causing goal keepers trouble all day.

“We had six chances in the first half that we didn't put away,” City High Coach Jose Fajardo said. “They scored a crappy goal in a crappy situation. We didn't put a PK away. We are to blame for this loss, no one else.”

The penalty kick came with 17 minutes left in the game when Tiger defender Matthew Olson handled the ball in his own box. Valley goal keeper William Young came up with a huge save.

“I was pretty nervous, but I was also pretty confident at the same time,” Young said. “It's a really stressful situation, but my team had brought me to that point, so I had to pull through.”

The dynamic duo of Pacheco and Chavez comes to an end, as Chavez moves on to play Division 1 soccer for Western Illinois.

“It hurts a lot, losing my last game ever as a City High Little Hawk, it hurts more than anything to end like this,” Chavez said. “We should've won that game. It was all us the whole game.” “We're used to scoring a lot, and today we just couldn't do it, it just didn't come together.”