Xavier takes 2A title on a couple of 'freebies'

DES MOINES - This was a freebie. Rather because of a freebie.A couple of them.Sophomore Connor Ramlo tapped home a loose ball off a free kick with 3:12 left to lift Cedar Rapids Xavier to a 2-1 win over Storm Lake for the Class 2A championship Saturday afternoon at Cownie Park. It's the record-tying sixth soccer title for the Saints.Iowa City West beat Iowa City High in Saturday's 3A finals to re-surpass Xavier for its seventh state championship."They pushed us to the limit," said Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic. "But in the end, it's great to be a champion, and I'm really excited for our program. It never gets old because every one of them is different. Sometimes you win and dominate. But this one, each game we were challenged in a different way. You look at the three victories, and it's really amazing we won all three."Xavier (14-5) survived its quarterfinal against Dubuque Wahlert, 3-2, nearly coughing up a three-goal lead. It outlasted Pella in the semis, 2-1, in double overtime.This win came late thanks to Ramlo and teammate Eli Smith. It was Smith's line-drive free kick from roughly 20 yards that smacked into a bunch of players in the penalty box and somehow on the foot of Ramlo, who had a mostly clear view of the net."We needed a goal there," said Ramlo. "All of us were exhausted. Eli put a really nice ball there over the top. All the credit to him. I just kind of got a foot on it and snuck it past the goalie."Smith appeared to have the game winner himself with 22:31 left when he struck another line-drive free kick from a few paces inside the center line that somehow skipped past Storm Lake keeper Cesar Gonzalez. Credit Ramlo for distracting Gonzalez with a faux attempt at a header."Those weren't my best pieces of work," smiled Smith, who came to Xavier last year after previously being home schooled. "They weren't the cleanest (kicks) I've ever had. I've had quite a few this season that haven't quite worked out that well. I'm just glad Coach let me take them.""Maybe the only weak spot for Storm Lake was when we were sending crosses from outside, they were not so good at clearing the ball," Hadzic said. "We kind of put the emphasis on putting a little bit more pressure and creating those opportunities through fouls and (then) crosses in the box. We were able to capitalize on two of them."Storm Lake (15-2) didn't play nearly the quality of competition in the regular season that Xavier did but proved to be a more than worthy finals opponent. The Tornadoes created their share of offensive pressure throughout the game, particularly leading goal scorer Victor Aviles on the wing.Lanky defenseman Peter Mulgae tied the game with 10 minutes to go, poking in a rebound of an original shot that hit the crossbar and deflected directly in front of the goal."They were a good team," acknowledged Ramlo.Then he finished the thought."But we were better," he said.Waverly-Shell Rock won the consolation game over Pella, 1-0. Here is the 2A All-Tournament Team:Tanner Hanks (Waverly-Shell Rock), Tyler Hughes (Waverly-Shell Rock), Daniel Langenfeld (Pella), Ben Robertson (Pella/goalkeeper), Edgar Raya (Storm Lake), Colin Gunn (Cedar Rapids Xavier), Ronald Duque (Storm Lake), Eli Smith (Cedar Rapids Xavier), Victor Aviles (Storm Lake), Bryan Curphey (Cedar Rapids Xavier).

Captain - Isaac Frisch (Cedar Rapids Xavier).