Bergstrom launches a long one

CEDAR RAPIDS – Cedar Rapids Washington all-stater Austin Bergstrom's first goal of the season was one to remember.With the score knotted at 1-1 and 8:23 to go until halftime, Bergstrom launched a 120-footer from the right sideline that seemed destined to end up in the hands of Linn-Mar goalkeeper Jared Belin.Instead, the Bergstrom missile grazed the keeper's fingers and landed inside the Lion net and Class 3A sixth-ranked Cedar Rapids Washington forged a tie for the MVC Valley division lead with a strong 5-2 win over No. 12 Linn-Mar Thursday night at Kingston Stadium.“That definitely marks the longest shot I've hit,” said Bergstrom, an All-American selection last season by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. “I was going to say I meant to do it, but there's a little hope with that.”After consecutive losses to Prairie and Kennedy, Washington (6-2, 5-2 MVC) has won three in a row.“We knew we had to come out and win,” Bergstrom said. “We knew we had to win and make our statement, and that's what we came out to do tonight and we did it.”Bergstrom's goal was sandwiched between two first-half goals from senior Jack Sundermann, who got the Warriors on the board less than four minutes into the game with a long breakaway behind the Linn-Mar defenders, slicing the ball from the right of the penalty box into the left side of the net past Belin.“I was really feeling it in the warmup,” said Sundermann, who leads the team with seven goals this season. “We all just came out hard and Bergie (Bergstrom) played me a few good balls in and so I just had to do my job and put them away.”Sundermann's second score came just a minute-and-a-half after the Bergstrom go-ahead when he fielded an assist from Bergstrom and punched it past the rattled Linn-Mar keeper for a 3-1 halftime lead. The assist was Bergstrom's team-high eighth this season.“I think that third goal before halftime was, you know, really important,” Washington Coach J.P. Graham said. “When they tied it up 1-1, you always worry when you get a bunch of good chances and then don't take advantage of it, and they tie it up, how you're going to react. So getting the second and third goal before halftime was very key.”A second-half header by Kimu Kasha and a penalty-kick goal from Evan Fisher provided the final tallies for Washington.A pair of freshmen, Hunter Wong and Blake Comstock, each scored for Linn-Mar (7-3, 5-2 MVC).Both teams are back in action this Saturday at the Trojan Classic, hosted by Iowa City West. Iowa City High, Muscatine, Pleasant Valley, West Des Moines Valley and Bettendorf round out the tournament field.

AT KINGSTON STADIUM

C.R. Washington 5, Linn-Mar 2

Goals-

CRW: Jack Sundermann 2, Austin Bergstrom, Kimu Kasha, Evan Fisher

; L-M: Hunter Wong, Blake Comstock. Assist-CRW: Bergstrom.________________________________________