Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – There are a lot of new faces in the City High soccer program this spring.

The graduation of 10 senior starters left the Little Hawks with holes to fill in the lineup.

There is also a new coaching staff as Matt Rhodes takes the reins of the program this season.

A season of change for City High kicked off on Thursday in a match that featured one of the biggest rule changes in Iowa high school soccer this season.

City High and Dubuque Senior played to a scoreless tie on Thursday in the season opener for both teams on a sunny afternoon in Iowa City.

In a new rule this season after 80 minutes the match ended in a tie, a switch from previous season in which two overtimes were played before the match was decided by penalty kicks.

“We are still figuring stuff out, the season is new, we are trying to figure stuff out as a coaching staff too just who plays at what position and what are the pieces that work and what fits,” Rhodes said. “This will be some sort of a transition year and they will have to embrace that but they are definitely coming together and this was going to be a good sort of gauge for us.”

In the season opener City High looked at times like a young team with 10 new starters.

At other times the Little Hawks looked in sync on both offense and defense.

In all, the Little Hawks felt the positives far outweighed the negatives in the 0-0 tie.

“There was a lot of good communication, there was a lot of talking,” City High senior left back Taylor Bartee said. “We knew where each other were at on the field, we knew who to pass too, there were a few moments that weren’t the best but I think it was really good.”

Following a scoreless first half Dubuque Senior upped its offensive pressure early in the second half.

The Rams had the best scoring opportunity of the match less than eight minutes into the second half but had a goal wiped off the board by an offside call at the 31:56 mark of the second half.

“I liked that a back line that has never played together and is very new to varsity soccer, very inexperienced was able to weather things because we were able some pressure in the second half,” Rhodes said. “They were able to communicate so I was happy with them for that.”

City High wasn’t able to mount much of an offensive attack on Thursday but Rhodes saw plenty of positives after halftime.

“There were glimmers at the end on offense of kind of the play we are looking for but there is still stuff we have to work on just to get people to see where the space is and how we move,” Rhodes said. “There was definitely stuff to build on.”

With 10 new starters and five underclassmen on the roster, including a pair of freshmen, most City High players were on the field together for the first time on Thursday.

Still, Bartee likes the way the Little Hawks have gelled together to start the season.

“I feel like the girls are learning a lot from the older players and it’s just a learning opportunity for them but I think they are coming on really well,” Bartee said. “Matt is a really, really good coach, he’s helped a lot and he’s there to explain and we support each other well.”

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