Bettendorf 'skips' past Linn-Mar, 1-0

MUSCATINE - You can skip a rock on a lake and apparently a soccer ball on a wet field. The first one is kind of pretty, the second one plenty ugly last night for the Linn-Mar girls' soccer team.

An innocuous looking roller somehow eluded the diving grasp of goalkeeper D.J. Norman, leading to a tap-in rebound from Rachele Szall early in the second half and the only goal as Bettendorf held on a for a 1-0 win in this Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal.

Blame plain old bad luck for the Lions having their first state appearance since 1998 ruined.

The start of the 2A session last night was delayed for a half-hour by considerable rain. The fields here at the Muscatine Soccer Complex drain well, but there was still moisture on the turf.

Ask Norman.

“I didn't expect the ball to be as dewey as it was,” she said. “It skipped past me. I reached back, but (Szall) was just quicker to the ball, I guess.”

These teams played at the end of the regular season with Bettendorf (16-3) winning, 2-0. Both hung their hats - or cleats, as the case may be - this season on defense, with this game proving it.

It was scoreless at halftime, with Linn-Mar (15-5) having the better offensive play. Yet the Lions couldn't beat Bettendorf goalkeeper Jessie Van Dyke, who posted her 15th shutout.

Her best save came with 9:45 left, diving and getting her fingers on a drive off the foot of Leandra Martins in the penalty area to the right of the goal. Martins is one of nine starters who will return to what should be a terrific Linn-Mar team next season.

“It sucks right now losing,” Martins said. “But knowing that we have a lot of people coming back doesn't make it seem like the end. We have another chance next year to do the same thing and hopefully go a little farther.”

“I thought we played two good halves,” said Linn-Mar Coach Steve Dickinson. “I really felt that the pressure on the two goalkeepers was pretty much even all game. We had just one little moment of lost focus and it cost us.”

Here are three videos: one from the first half and two of Linn-Mar corner kicks late in the game: