Boys soccer falls to Pleasant Valley in state quarterfinals
The boys soccer team ended their season on Wednesday losing an intense match in the quaterfinals of the state tournament against the Pleasant Valley Spartans.
Miguel Cohen Suarez dribbles through a sea of Pleasant Valley players on June 1, 2022.
June 2, 2022
James Cownie Soccer Complex opened its gates to the IHSAA and IGHSAU soccer state tournaments this past weekend. Teams from all over Iowa traveled to Des Moines to compete for a chance to be state champions. The Trojans boys soccer team was seeded 3rd in the tournament. Took on Pleasant Valley, seeded 6th, on Wednesday night.
With packed stands and the heat of the state tournament at the forefront of the teams’ minds, there was no doubt this game would be a tough one.
The heat was also turned up taking into consideration the last time these two teams met, in the state championship finals in June 2021. Both teams fought the entire game ultimately Pleasant Valley succeeding, 1-0. The rivalry has been strong ever since.
The first half was off to a great start, both teams fought and kept the scoreboard empty, Nick McDonnell ’22 making some great saves to keep the Spartans off the scoreboard. Both teams fought in this nail-biting half walking off at halftime with no goals scored on either side.
The Trojans and the Spartans started the second half with the same intensity. But the Spartans got a close goal after 10 minutes. The refs had to stop play for a few minutes to debate if the goal was offsides, but ultimately they decided it was a fair goal.
The second half continued for the next 20 minutes, the Trojans trying to crawl back from being down by one. With seven minutes left Pleasant Valley zips in a second goal, making the Spartans up 2-0.
Despite the Trojans best efforts they were not able to take down the Spartans. Pleasant Valley will advance to the semi-finals of the state tournament.
The Trojans end their successful season with an 18-3 record.
