Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – A loss always stings.

A season-ending loss at the state tournament can burn a little deeper but not all losses are created equal.

City High came up short after pushing top-ranked Johnston to the brink on Wednesday in a Class 4A state quarterfinal but head coach Jose Fajardo and the Little Hawks felt only pride after a 3-2 double overtime loss at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines.

“There are different ways of losing,” Fajardo said. “This way of losing hurts because you are out but it’s not a way that you can feel bad. It just makes you feel proud of what we did with the young team that we have.”

City High erased an early deficit and led the top-ranked Dragons with under 15 minutes to play before eventually falling on a game-winning goal by Johnston senior AJ Colocho 47 seconds into the second 10-minute overtime period.

Defending 4A state champion Johnston (18-2) will face fourth-ranked West High (20-2) in the 4A semifinals on Friday at Mediacom Stadium at 4 p.m.

City High closed the season at 12-4.

“It’s a good experience for the guys and I think they have a lot to feel proud about,” Fajardo said. “Today we were down against the number one team and we came back 2-1 and that is character, that is leadership and we can only be proud.”

Johnston jumped to an early lead when Colocho scored with 19:31 remaining in the opening half.

The lead was short lived as City High answered with a goal by freshman Seth Zeithamel with 9:50 remaining in the first half.

“At the beginning we were nervous,” Fajardo said. “It took us a little bit of time to adjust to it, the physicality of the other team.”

City High took its only lead of the game 2-1on a Gabe Egeland goal with 21:09 remaining.

Johnston answered back quickly as Kyron Pope scored on a header with 13:22 left in the match.

It remained 2-2 until the game-winner by Kolocho less than a minute into overtime.

“We said the first 15 or 20 minutes have to be no mistakes,” Fajardo said. “Don’t allow that little goal that is going to put them ahead. We did that and then we got into the game and I think we did a good job the rest of the game.”

City High started just one senior in its first appearance at the state tournament since 2018 and Fajardo hopes that the experience gained from Wednesday’s near miss against one of the state’s best teams pays dividends down the road.

“I think that we did unbelievable,” Fajardo said. “We are only starting one senior on this team, we have a super young team. We knew Johnston was going to be difficult, they are very physical, they play very direct and they brought the game all the time. We prepared for it, it’s start of the game and I think it’s a good experience for us and will make us stronger for next year and see if we can come back and do better next year.”

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.