Kennedy beats Prairie, 2-0, for state soccer berth

Zach Pape scored the winning goal Saturday morning, then gave everyone the finger.

Not really everyone. Just those sitting on the Cedar Rapids Prairie side of Kingston Stadium.

And not THAT finger. As he trotted to the sidelines past the Prairie bench, the Cedar Rapids Kennedy midfielder pressed his index finger to his lips as in "sssshhhhh."

"It was a little bit towards their crowd," Pape laughed. "They were on us all game. Our crowd was a little more flimsy (in size) than theirs. I was kind of tired of hearing them screaming at us. It was a good moment."

That good moment came with 7:59 left in this Class 3A boys' soccer substate final and essentially put Kennedy into next weekend's state tournament in Des Moines. Colby Gibson scored on an odd-man break in the closing seconds as the eighth-ranked Cougars eked out a 2-0 win over a team formerly known as their nemesis.

It was Prairie that knocked Kennedy out of the postseason last season. The teams played a 1-0 game in the regular season that Kennedy won in penalty kicks.

"It seems like the last six or seven years, all of our games with them have been one-goal games or come down to penalty kicks or overtime," said Kennedy Co-Coach Steve Robertson. "This was a really tough game. We knew they were going to come in and play tough. It's just good for us to get the win and get down to Des Moines again."

These Cougars think they can do some damage in the capital city. They improved to 15-4 with a strong second half that included spending much time in the Prairie zone and a slew of corner kicks.

Pape took a loose ball after a corner kick at about the 15-yard line (football wise) and let go with a well-place curving bullet that beat Prairie goalkeeper Mickey Kacena low to the left corner of the net.

"We came in at halftime and were like 'Hey, we've got nothing to lose,'" said all-state Kennedy forward Erik Boyer. "Let's play to win."

"It was tough, really physical out there, but that's the fun of soccer," Pape said. "We got knocked out by Prairie last year, so this is a pretty special moment for us."

It's Kennedy's sixth state tournament appearance, its first since 2007. Pairings are expected to be released Sunday.

Prairie ended 7-11-2. Five Hawks seniors went straight from Kingston to graduation ceremonies at the school.

"Coming into it, we didn't have the won-loss record we wanted," said Prairie Coach Curt Lewis. "But we're young, and we've struggled to score goals. We hung in there."

Here's a short video interview with Kennedy's Pape: