West Liberty leads Iowa high school boys’ soccer in goals as it aims to ‘get past the hump’ at state

A piece of advice for spectators when watching a West Liberty boys’ soccer match: Don’t look away from the action.

The Comets can strike in the blink of an eye.

Earlier this week, Class 1A No. 5-rated West Liberty (9-2) traveled to Tipton and defeated the Tigers, 10-0. It was the sixth time the Comets have scored in double-digits this season.

Interestingly, West Liberty led just 1-0 at intermission.

Things changed in a hurry.

“I thought it was an attitude problem in the first half,” West Liberty Coach Walton Ponce said. “We dominated the game from the beginning, but we were just too casual when we were in front of our goal. We were just not clinical enough.

“Then we had an attitude about getting the ball in the back of the net in the second half, clearly.”

Senior Juan Mateo, the Comets’ leading scorer, scored the team’s lone first-half goal. He added two more in the second, giving him 21 this season, good for second in 1A.

“Honestly, just like Coach said, we were playing good, how he wanted us to play,” Mateo said. “The only problem was that we couldn't finish and that was on us. But after we had our halftime talk, our mentality just changed and we started scoring goals.”

Other goal scorers against Tipton included Javier Andrade (2), Joshua Zeman, Bruce Songa (2) and Diego Hernandez (2).

West Liberty’s ninth second-half goal ended the game with 10:08 remaining, due to the 10-goal differential rule.

The Comets lead all Iowa teams in goals scored this season (79) and assists (66). They’ve outscored opponents 79-6, the second largest margin in the state behind 3A No. 2 Marion.

“When we succeed, as we showed here in the second half, we're going to be a tough team to beat,” Ponce said. “But again, we’ve got to create that consistency. And that's what we're working for.”

While Hernandez, West Liberty’s senior captain, found the net twice against Tipton, scoring goals is different from his forte.

“He's the leader on and off the field,” Ponce said. “He does a lot of the dirty work that is unseen in the statistics. He's definitely our engine. If we don't have him starting our play and then creating our attack, we're nowhere.”

“Honestly, I don't care about my stats,” Hernandez said. “I care more about playing my role, which is giving my teammates opportunities to score.

“Obviously, the guys are leading the state, so I like seeing them succeed. I bet if you would ask Juan or our other attackers, our stats don't matter. It's winning as a team.”

West Liberty’s program has experienced plenty of winning in recent years.

Ponce, who took over as head coach in 2019, has reached the 1A state semifinals in each of his three seasons (excluding the 2020 COVID-canceled season).

The Comets have their sights on taking it a step further in 2023.

“It's not just getting back there (to the state semis), but we want to get past the hump,” Ponce said. “I think it's also good to not hide that — that's our goal. But we're a long way away. We’ve got to take it a step at a time.

“I will be the first one to say, we are not the most athletic team in the state, but hopefully we're the best soccer team in the state in 1A at the end of the season.”

Each of the last two seasons have ended with losses to Western Christian.

“Honestly, I mean, yeah, it's been in our mind getting eliminated by the same team,” Mateo said. “It's annoying. And especially for our seniors, it’s our last year — just give it our all and try to win that state title.”

“I think soccer-wise, we have it,” Hernandez said. “I think for us, it's just going to be mental. I think we definitely have to flip the switch.

“We have to give it our all every minute. I think that's what's going to hopefully get us over that.”