Washington streaks past Tigers in rainy substate final

CEDAR RAPIDS - Two streaking boys' soccer squads faced off Saturday morning at rain-soaked Kingston Stadium, and now a celebrated group of Cedar Rapids Washington seniors are back in the boys' state soccer tournament for the third time in four years.“That was my challenge,” Washington Coach J.P. Graham said after the fourth-ranked Warriors blanked No. 8 Cedar Falls, 2-0, in a Class 3A substate final.“Not too many teams can go three out of four years down to the state tournament.They stepped it up today.”The start of the game was delayed an hour and 15 minutes by morning lightning, but it was worth the wait for a trip to state.“It feels really good. We were there the first two years and now going back is awesome,” said Austin Bergstrom, a four-year starter and NSCAA All-American.“We end on a big bang, hopefully.”Washington (14-4) withstood an early flurry of offense from Cedar Falls. Warriors goalkeeper Gunnar Lenzen snared five saves in the first 15 minutes.“It's happened a lot this season,” Bergstrom said.“If we're able to get past the first 15 (minutes) without any goals against us, we actually come out pretty well.”The win avenged a home loss to Cedar Falls (13-6) two weeks ago.The Warriors' gained some footing offensively in the final eight minutes of the first half.Senior Jack Sundermann gathered a Tiger goal kick and assisted ahead to senior Boris Licona-Moreno, whose right-side strike was too hot to handle for Tigers goalkeeper Josh Ochoa, deflecting off his gloves with a thud into the net.Less than four minutes later, senior Kimu Kasha found a seam inside the penalty box and scored his team-high 10th goal this season for a 2-0 Warriors lead, all but clinching a trip to state.“Oh man, it feels so good,” Kasha said.“Last year, we didn't make it, but this year I have a good feeling about it.”