Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – A daunting early season schedule left perennial powerhouse West High low on two things the Trojans have rarely lacked – confidence and victories.

The Trojans got a big boost in both categories on Thursday.

West High bolted to a 4-0 lead and held off a furious rally from Class 3A No. 10 City High (4-1-1) to post a 4-3 win over the Little Hawks in a cross-town thriller at the University of Iowa Soccer Complex.

“Early in the season we played a lot of good teams and our confidence wasn’t there so now it’s just about building up the confidence,” West High senior Daniel Fuentes said. “We know we can compete with those teams it’s just about building up confidence and getting ready for the rest of the season.”

Four different players scored goals on Thursday as West High (3-4-1) put up a season-high goal total while stretching its win streak over City High to six.

Fuentes, Mo El Hindi, Elias Ortiz and Christian Kim scored goals in a span of less than 23 minutes of game time spanning the end of the first and start of the second half.

The four goals on Thursday marked the fourth time in the past five meetings with City High that West High scored three goals or more and came after West High scored four combined goals in its previous six matches.

“I think just the fact that our shots were on target was a positive,” West High coach Brad Stiles said. “We’ve had some good looks and some decent shots that weren’t even on target. I’m glad, we got those, we will take it today.”

A state semifinalist last season, West High opened the season with six consecutive matches against top-10 opponents.

The Trojans were 1-4-1 after a 1-0 loss at 3A seventh-ranked Waukee Northwest on Saturday.

“Our schedule has been a lot harder but we chose this schedule we wanted a lot of hard games,” West High senior Liam Teghanemt said. “We played a lot of teams in the top 10 and we competed with all of them and I think we showed tonight we can compete it’s just a matter of doing it.”

West High stopped a five-match string without a victory with a 2-0 win over Dubuque Wahlert on Tuesday.

The Trojans had gone 0-4-1 since a season-opening win over Ankeny Centennial scoring three total goals during that stretch.

On Thursday the Trojans got a win that could flip their season.

“We needed this bad,” West High senior Kaden Crabtree said. “Brad has coached here for 20 years and only one of his team’s hasn’t made state and we were on the chopping block for not even having a substate final game at home so we needed this game bad against a ranked opponent so it was really big.”

Fuentes got the scoring started when he slipped a free kick from just outside the top of the box into the upper right corner with 20:17 remaining in the opening half.

“That’s just my spot I feel like,” Fuentes said. “I am three for three in that spot on the right side of the goal top of the box and every other free kick I’ve shot from anywhere else has never gone in. If I get a free kick there I know I can put it top corner.”

El Hindi made it 2-0 West High with a goal with 12:42 remaining in the opening half.

El Hindi slipped past a defender along the goal line before changing direction and slotting in a shot that gave the Trojans a 2-0 halftime lead.

“Handling the environment as a player is a huge, huge step especially when you get to play here at this field,” Stiles said. “It’s a big deal.”

West High scored twice in the opening two and half minutes of the second half to push the lead to 4-0.

Elias Ortiz gave West High a 3-0 lead just 66 seconds into the second half and Christian Kim capped the West High scoring spree with a goal with 37:30 remaining.

“Last year our schedule was very low ranked as far as the opponents we played and this year we did the complete opposite,” Stiles said. “I think the stiff competition at the beginning of the year allowed us to be a little more comfortable in this one.”

City High would not go quietly.

Jackson Nichols-Lindsey got City High on the board when he headed in a corner kick with 35:33 remaining.

Jack Dancer cut the lead to 4-2 when he scored on a free kick from outside the box with 23:28 left in the match.

City High got as close as 4-3 when Jonah Bowen-Burt scored on a rocket from outside the box with 18:23 but couldn’t quite pull even.

“I think everybody on the team was stressed for sure but we knew we had to keep it together,” Crabtree said. “We fell apart of a little while but we brought it back.”

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