Valley 'scores twice' to edge Washington, 1-0

The sixth-seeded Cedar Rapids Washington Warriors caught a break early in the second half of their Class 3A quarterfinal state tournament soccer game Thursday at Cownie Park.

But they couldn't capitalize on it.

West Des Moines Valley (17-3) had an apparent goal seven minutes in disallowed by an offsides call, but Alijendro Hernandez scored off a corner kick with 12:31 left to send the Tigers to today's 3A semifinals against Iowa City High (12-7).

“I was hoping (the disallowed goal) would be a spark for us,” said Washington Coach J.P. Graham. “We just couldn't get enough possession. And we're a possession team.”

The teams played an even first half, but Valley seemed to have a slight edge in the final 40 minutes. Washington ends its season 14-6.

It was Hernandez' first goal of the season, by the way. Just to make it hurt even worse for the Warriors.

“I thought that first one would have been the deciding factor, to where we would step up and start playing after that,” said Washington midfielder Josh Jensen. “It just didn't quite happen. We had a few mistakes, a few bad balls. Other than that, everyone played hard. It just didn't go our way."

"They outplayed us a little bit there in the second half," said Graham, whose team had only four seniors. "That's why they got the goal."

Here's a short video interview with Jensen: