Girls Soccer: Powell lifts Union to 1A soccer title game

MUSCATINE  – Darian Powell didn't even know the game on an adjoining field at the Muscatine Soccer Complex was tied.

“Oh, is it?” the LaPorte City Union super sophomore said Friday afternoon, taking a peak.

Powell was asked which team she preferred to break the tie and win - Cedar Rapids Xavier or Sioux City Heelan? She hesitated for a second, maybe two.

“We want to play Xavier,” she finally boldly answered. “We want revenge on them.”

Union got its wish a few minutes later. It'll be a matchup of unbeaten teams in Saturday morning's Class 1A finals, with Xavier (21-0) searching for its fifth straight 1A title and Union (22-0) its first ever.

The Knights get that opportunity thanks primarily to Powell, whose goal with 5:18 left was the difference in a 3-2 semifinal win over Dallas-Center Grimes.

“We were both evenly matched,” said Union Coach Lizzie Zondo. “We both have volatile offenses. That's how it went today.”

It appeared to be a romp early, as goals from Darian and her cousin Kylie Powell in the first seven minutes staked Union to a 2-0 lead. But DC-G (19-3) tied it before half's end on goals from Antonia Hutzell and Shelby Bowersox.

The clubs slugged it out the rest of the way until Darian Powell took a through ball from teammate Lauren Bauer, sprinted into the box on the left side and smoked a shot into the right corner of the net. It was the prolific Powell's fifth goal of the tournament, 61st this season and 131st in her two-year varsity career.

“We got two goals there quick, and they fired up somehow,” Powell said. “I don't know. They just came back and got two more. We regrouped.”

“I took Darian out for awhile (in the second half), said ‘Maybe this will make you madder,'” Zondo said. “She came out and slammed the water bottle down. Then she went out and scored a goal. So I guess it worked.”