Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – West Branch made history on Tuesday with its appearance at the state soccer tournament.

The final result of its state tournament debut wasn’t what the Bears wanted but it didn’t detract a thing from what has been a season for the storybook for West Branch.

Third-ranked Des Moines Christian (12-4) scored three goals in the final 24 minutes of the first half on its way to a 4-0 win over West Branch in a 1A quarterfinal at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines.

We played one of our better games to be honest with you, it may not look like it on the scoreboard but I felt like we played super well,” West Branch coach Ted Miller said. “Des Moines Christian had some really good passes that slipped through our defenders. We were just one goal away from being in it.”

Des Moines Christian (12-4) will face Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck (19-0) on Thursday at 10 a.m. in a Class 1A semifinal.

Top-ranked Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck defeated Waterloo Columbus 4-0 in a quarterfinal on Tuesday.

West Branch closed the season (14-4).

“It says a lot about our program that we are playing here today, we just started a team a few years ago and making it to state our fifth year is a pretty good accomplishment,” West Branch junior defender Lincoln Edwards said. “Obviously we aren’t satisfied, we would have liked to performed better but it’s a great accomplishment for our program.”

It was a historic season for West Branch which started the season 11-0 and qualified for the state tournament for the first time with a 2-1 overtime win over No. 14 Pella Christian in the substate title game.

On Tuesday the Bears couldn’t find any offensive footing against a Des Moines Christian team that pushed its winning streak to nine with the 4-0 win.

“I learned for sure that communication is a huge part of soccer,” Miller said. “That Des Moines Christian team I was pretty impressed with how not just a few players communication but the whole entire team. We learned a lot about that.”

Des Moines Christian snapped a scoreless tie when Aaron Alferink scored from just inside the box with 23:39 remaining in the first half.

The Lions took control of the match with a pair of goals in the final 13 minutes of the opening half.

Samuel Overholt scored with 12:39 remaining and Grant Dunn had his first of two goals with 2:19 left in the first half to make it 3-0.

“I think we learned you have to give 100 percent the entire game,” Edwards said. “Not taking anything for granted where it’s a shot, pass, clear, throw in or goal kick you have to give 100 percent the whole game.”

Dunn added a goal with 34:26 remaining, his 31^st of the season, to cap the scoring.

The loss didn’t spoil a special season for Miller and the Bears, who started just two seniors on Tuesday.

“I am happy with my team, I am happy with how they played all season long, I couldn’t be more thrilled to be here after four seasons,” Miller said. “They worked their tails off. They deserved to be here as much as any other team here. I couldn’t be any more happier.”

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