Magical Season for West Branch Ends With Loss to Van Meter in Class 1A Quarterfinals
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
DES MOINES – West Branch won a pair of substate matches at the Little Rose Bowl to reach the state soccer tournament for the second consecutive season.
The journey to state for the Bears began long before a substate semifinal win over Central Lee.
For most of the 11 seniors on the West Branch roster and many of the members of the coaching staff that journey started all the way back in kindergarten playing at Kickers Soccer Park in Iowa City.
It ended on Wednesday with a 3-1 loss to Van Meter in a Class 1A quarterfinal at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines.
“This season was incredible special to me,” West Branch coach Ted Miller said. “These seniors have been with the program this they were freshmen and they’ve been playing together since kindergarten and our assistant coaches coached them up through kickers.”
That 11-member senior class played a pivotal role in back-to-back state tournament appearances and the best season in program history.
West Branch post the first unbeaten season in program history and closed 18-1.
“I think it’s exciting not only the guys on the team that are coming back but for the younger kids coming up that have really enjoyed watching our team,” Miller said. “Hopefully that gets them excited to play soccer through the years.”
On Wednesday it was a quick Van Meter burst late in the first half that proved too much for West Branch to overcome.
The Bulldogs scored three times in a span of less than 10 minutes late in the first half to take a 3-0 halftime lead.
It was the first time all season West Branch had allowed more than two goals in a match and the first time in eight matches the Bears had surrendered more than a single goal.
“It’s never easy to get scored on first, it’s a hole that’s hard to come out of,” Miller said. “Going into halftime down 3-0 a lot of teams would have put their tails between their legs and gone through the motions in the second half but we kept fighting.”
Henry Lounsbury started the scoring with his first of two goals with 10:50 remaining in the opening half.
Sophomore Caleb Moore made it 2-0 with a goal with 5:41 left and Lounsbury capped the flurry with his team-high 18th goal of the season with 1:32 remaining in the half.
“They are a good team,” Miller said. “They have a lot of height and we just tried to keep them from getting the headers from the crossers or the corner kicks.”
West Branch battled in the second half, cutting the lead to 3-1 on a Reese Gingerich goal in the 61st minute.
The Bears could get no closer as Van Meter clamped down and held West Branch scoreless over the final 19 minutes.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these kids they way they fought throughout the whole game,” Miller said. “They didn’t give up, I was proud of the way they played all game.”
Van Meter will face West Liberty (13-5) in the Class 1A semifinals on Friday at Drake Stadium at 4 p.m.
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