Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Just minutes after a 1-0 loss to City High dropped his team to 0-3 on the season West High coach Dave Rosenthal offered a succinct summary of his team’s offensive struggles.

“We are not willing to push ourselves over the edge to push and press and get the final third,” Rosenthal said last month. “We need to figure that out really soon otherwise we are going to struggle.”

It took some time and West High struggled offensively during an 0-8 start but the Women of Troy have solved their offensive woes at just the right time.

Freshman Kenedee Showalter scored three goals, including the game-winner 88 seconds into overtime as West High upset No. 13 City High 3-2 in the completion of a Class 3A, Region 4 semifinal on Thursday afternoon at the University of Iowa Soccer Complex.

“We lost those games early in the season but we learned from them,” Rosenthal said. “I learned a lot about what our team was capable of, what systems were going to work and where we could play players. We talked about how we were going to be able to score, what we needed to do and we had a lot of practices in that final third and what we needed to do in that final third.”

West High scored two total goals during its 0-8 start and the 1-0 loss to City High on April 9 was the first of six consecutive shutouts for the Women of Troy.

It has been quite a turnaround, especially offensively over the last month.

West High (8-10) has won eight of its last 10 matches and takes a five-match winning streak into Monday’s Regional title game at seventh-ranked West Des Moines Dowling (12-3). City High closed the season 9-6.

“I think we’ve done a lot better job of communication and playing together,” West High senior midfielder Marnie Vonderhaar said. “We’ve found our groove a little bit.”

Where the Women of Troy have really found a groove over the last month is on offense.

After its 0-8 start to the year West High had scored more than one goal one time in its last 25 matches dating back to last season.

West High has put up two or more goals six times in its last 10 matches.

“Our back line has always been pretty strong throughout the year but we hadn’t really been able to build our offense up,” Showalter said. “We have finally been able to have some skill in the midfield and we’ve been working at practice on combination plays and getting shots on goal and it’s come together.”

Showalter has been a key part of the late season offensive surge.

On Thursday the freshman forward was the difference.

Showalter gave West High the lead three different times in the win over City High that started on Wednesday night but was delayed nearly 24 hours by weather.

“Kenadee when she gets the ball she tends to put her head down and just go,” Rosenthal said. “She has a nose for the goal, she wants to score goals, she wants to take players on and we’ve had to teach her a little bit about patience and how to gear down and a little bit and figure out the moment and the times to burst and when to use her energy.

Showalter put West High up 1-0 with a high arching shot from outside the box just more than three minutes into the match.

City High evened the score on a West High own goal in the 14th minute and it remained tied until halftime when thunderstorms halted play for the day.

When play resumed on Thursday Showalter picked up where she left off, putting West High up 2-1 with a goal from inside the box with 18:52 left.

“We knew we had to come out after the delay and knock them off their feet,” Showalter said. “We had to come out and play hard and show them that we really want to earn it.”

City High got the equalizer when Naomi Meurice knocked in a Callie Menzel feed with 8:34 left.

It was the first goal of the season for Meurice who played the first 13 games of the season at goalie but was forced out of goal by a thumb injury.

“Having her on the field was probably more motivational to the team than anything,” City High coach Phillip Hansen said. “Yes, she’s a good skilled player but what she does for our team is more than that. It’s the leadership that she brings.”

It went to overtime tied at 2-2 but Showalter didn’t need long to end things in the extra period.

She took a long pass and rifled a shot past freshman keeper Sara Cassady for the game-winner.

“I saw the ball coming over top and I knew I had their left defender beat,” Showalter said. “I saw the center defender coming in and their goalie was coming out at me and I saw the whole left side of the goal open. I just took my shot.”

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by becoming a member.