Boys:
The day began with calm weather around West High, but as it continued, the rays of sun turned into intense downpours leading up to the home game on Barker field. The boys soccer team for West High had a very intriguing start to their season, with all three of their starting games cancelled due to weather, and this game was nearly cancelled as well. With the cancelations of all prior games, the Trojans were now scheduled to play rival Liberty as their season opener. This development put even more pressure on the boys’ shoulders to come out of the gate strong and set a precedent for the rest of the season.
This game also followed the 2024-25 season, in which West High boys soccer lost more than five matches in the regular season for the first time in more than a decade. Heading into this year, Head Coach Brad Stiles had plans to rework his varsity team and double down on preparation.
As the boys entered the field for warmups, the weather was still dire. West and Liberty spectators alike were all bundled together under umbrellas and heavy coats while they waited for the game to start anxiously. As the final moments of the junior varsity game concluded with a 9-1 win for the Trojans, both varsity teams took the pitch.
After taking time to warm up, do the coin toss and applaud the audience for coming out, the game was underway.
It was clear from the start that the soaked terrain had a brutal impact on both teams, as all shots in the first half of the game were off target. While the offenses of both teams struggled, the defenses for West and Liberty shined as they took advantage of miscalculated touches. The first half was spent going back and forth with majority of the possession landing with the Liberty Lightning, but neither team was able to produce a goal after the first 40 minutes.
At the start of the second half, the atmosphere was clearly different. The rain had slowed down and the pace of the game had picked up, but this time it was clear that West High was in control of the match. It took a few minutes before the Trojans really found their rhythm, but when Adam Salem ’26 scored the first goal of the match off a free kick from outside the goalkeeper’s box, the enthusiasm to get another erupted. Soon after, Elias Ortiz ’27 scored once more off of a stolen pass to put the Trojans ahead by two and cement their victory in the game.
As the match clock hit zero, the score was still 2-0 for the Trojans, signaling their first victory of the season and sending a message to other teams that the West High boys team is ready for the rest of their season.
Girls:
The day of the girls game started out much like that of the boys two days later. However, the rain never came for the girls. Instead, they had to deal with winds that averaged 15-20 miles per hour. Regardless, the girls knew they needed to push past the obstacles and take home a win against Cedar Rapids Jefferson in order to also set a standard for the rest of their season.
The girls had come off of a 8-7-2 record in the 2024-25 season and were a strong contender for the state title until they were knocked out by Ames High during the regional semifinals. That year, the team had to proudly let go of multiple starting seniors who had graduated and because of that, heading into this year the Trojans were intent on filling back in those positions and continuing towards building up a state-contending lineup.
The game ahead was the first chance to show they were ready to take on this new challenge.
As the starting whistle rang out, West took possession of the ball and drove it down the line towards Jefferson’s goal. It was soon followed by a goal from Anna Goska ’26 and then another from Jessie Blount ’29.
West High had won 14 of its last 15 games against Jefferson High dating all the way back to 2012, and this game was looking like the trend of West taking home a victory was likely.
Even with the wind practically throwing back any balls that were put into the air, the Trojan girls continued to find the back of the net over and over until the score board showed 9-0. The Trojans were relentless in their attack all game; they controlled the ball, made good on opportunities and passed the ball around as accurately as ever. The girls took 49 shots in total throughout the game. Goska finished the game with a total of three goals and a hat-trick to her name and Sofia Fuentes ’28 with three assists to her name.
Although the game was a great morale booster for the Trojans heading into the rest of their season, they also understood that they still had kinks in their system that would have to be worked out in order to continue to dominate.
