Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Emma Potthoff might just be the fastest girls’ soccer player in the state.

The West High junior midfielder/forward displayed her robust talent for acceleration Wednesday night at Barker Field.

As a result, her team is one win from a much-coveted state tournament berth.

“On the wing, I’m able to use my speed to get behind players, get the through balls that my teammates play perfectly,” Potthoff said after scoring the only goal in Class 3A No. 13 West High’s 1-0 win over No. 14 Cedar Falls in a regional semifinal. “I just use my speed as best I can to keep the defenders in front of me.”

Potthoff’s scoring strike in the 31st minute – her team-best 11th this season – was the byproduct of a sprint downfield that was met with a well-placed pass from sophomore Anna Goska.

It was Goska’s fourth assist this season.

“I saw the two girls in front of me and knew I needed to take them on and get a goal early,” Potthoff said. “Get ahead and give us the confidence we need for the rest of the game.”

Potthoff’s 11 goals surpasses the 10 she scored as a sophomore.

“She just knows where to be, she knows when to make the runs,” first-year West Coach Zach Serovy said. “She finishes her chances, so that’s all the makings of a top player. She’s definitely very, very good.”

The first-half advantage was also a boost to the rugged West defensive unit, which seized onto the slim lead and locked down the Cedar Falls offensive attack to ensure it held up.

“(It allowed us to) breathe,” West senior Alyson Skala said. “When we’re up 1-0, it’s a little bit more composure. You kind of have the control of the game so you get to lead it to how you want to do it. It really helps.”

The shutout is the seventh this season for West High (11-4), which has won five of its last six matches.

“Especially in the second half, we really possessed the ball well,” Serovy said. “We moved it well and we really used our wide field to our advantage. We did a really good job of keeping the ball better in the second half. We were putting numbers in the box and that helped us get across the line.”

West High has not qualified for the state tournament since 2017.

If the Trojans are to get there this year, they will need to get past No. 4 Linn-Mar (15-3), a team it scrimmaged in the preseason and faced April 30 at home (a 2-0 Linn-Mar win).

The regional final is Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Linn-Mar Stadium in Marion.

“We’re definitely going to have to play one of the best games we’ve played all season,” Potthoff said. “Going into it knowing that we can compete and we can have the confidence to go into that game knowing we can get the win. Keep our heads high.”

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