Sunday-Bergstrom matchup at center-mid an enticing one

CEDAR RAPIDS - There's a little wariness there. A little nervousness about the other guy's game.But there's also respect. A lot of that between Mueng Sunday and Austin Bergstrom."I know what kind of ability he brings to the field," Sunday said. "He can pick apart a team if he's given the opportunity.""He's the ultimate distributor and builder of a team," Bergstrom countered. "He makes everything happen, moves the ball side to side."Iowa City West and Cedar Rapids Washington play a Class 3A state soccer tournament quarterfinal Thursday afternoon at 5 at Cownie Park in Des Moines. This is a team-versus-team deal, for sure.But also check out the individual center midfield matchup between West's Sunday and Wash's Bergstrom. Who wins that head-to-head encounter could very well tell you who wins the game.These are two of the best players in the state, guys who have received national awards. Sunday was recently selected Gatorade player of the year in Iowa, Bergstrom a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's high school boys' all-American team."To me, they are similar," said Washington coach J.P. Graham. "They are very solid defensively, very calm on the ball, can pass well. They are true triple threats.""Yes, they are a good starting point for the game," said West Coach Brad Stiles. "Both do extremely well with the long pass ... Both have very high work rates. They are very durable, their minutes are high. Both control the game in the middle."The seniors have been teammates numerous times over the years in club soccer and on an Olympic Development Team. They have Division I college futures: Sunday at Drake and Bergstrom at Ohio State.But they have differences as players, including Bergstrom being a little taller than Sunday at 6-foot-2. And Bergstrom has had the upper hand in their prep careers, winning three of four matches, including the season opener this year.That's the only loss for defending champ West (17-1), which is the top seed in this weekend's tournament. The strength of the field is evident in that Washington is the eighth seed despite a 14-4 record."We've lost to them a couple of years, and we feel like we have a chip on our back about that," Sunday said."We have been their poison, been able to take them down," Bergstrom said. "We have the confidence that we can do it again."Here are all of the state tournament pairings, led by Class 1A:

2013 1A State Soccer Pairings by Jeffrey Johnson

2013 2A State Soccer Pairings by Jeffrey Johnson

2013 3A State Soccer Pairings by Jeffrey Johnson