By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – For nearly 98 minutes on Tuesday Clear Creek Amana did everything it needed to do to win a soccer match.

Almost everything.

In the final minutes of the second overtime Williamsburg finally did the one thing Clear Creek Amana could not.

Matt Cronquist scored the only goal of the game with 3:16 left in the second overtime to lift Class 1A No. 13 Williamsburg (8-4) to a 1-0 win over 2A No. 14 Clear Creek Amana in a WAMAC West Division title in Tiffin.

“We played 98 minutes of really good soccer,” Benson said. “I’m proud of the guys, they worked really hard the whole game we’ve just had two or three of these games where it just came down to one play and it wasn’t us.”

Clear Creek Amana dropped to 8-5 with its fourth loss in its last six matches.

Three of the losses in that span have been by one goal and two have been 1-0 decisions.

“I don’t have an answer, if I did I’d keep it to myself and tell my team,” Benson said of the offensive struggles. “We just have to keep practicing, keep trying and try to stay positive.”
Clear Creek Amana had no problem creating opportunities on Tuesday.

The struggle for the Clippers came in putting those chances away.

Williamsburg had a chance to take a lead via penalty kick 14 minutes into the match following a Clipper hand ball in the box.

Clear Creek Amana keeper Ian McDonald kept the match scoreless with a diving save of a Roberto Flores attempt on the penalty kick.

The Clippers had their own chance to take the lead with a penalty kick but Wyatt Sedlacek’s attempt in the 52nd minute was wide left.

“I guess it’s even, they could have made theirs we could have made ours,” Benson said. “It shouldn’t have come down to that.”

The Clippers dominated possession and offensive attempts in the final 25 minutes of regulation but couldn’t find the net.

A Pau Alberich header off a perfectly placed Sedlacek corner kick in the 55th minute sailed just high.

The changes continued to mount in overtime.

Alberich missed just high with shots from inside 20 yards twice in a span of a minute in the first overtime and had a shot ricochet off the cross bar with 1:28 left in the 10-minute period.  

“We had plenty of opportunities we just couldn’t make plays,” Benson said. “Williamsburg, they were stout in the box, they cleared balls out and pushed us around a little bit and we just couldn’t make plays.”
Alberich had another near miss two minutes into the second overtime when his shot from inside 18 yards was tipped over the goal.

Williamsburg took advantage of its only good offensive threat in overtime minutes later.

“The thing we kept talking about from the end of regulation through the overtimes is we have to just have to continue to play our game,” Williamsburg coach Ryan Sauser said. “I thought the guys did a good job of staying defensive-minded and then we just took advantage of the break when it came.”

On a counter attack Williamsburg connected several passes before finding Cronquist alone on the right side of the box.

The freshman settled the ball and took a dribble before rocketing a shot into the upper right corner of the goal for the win.

“There was a series of passes that led to that where the guys played very composed and didn’t over extend and didn’t over punch it and that led to him having some time to really look at it on the deck there,” Sauser said. “For him as a freshman in a situation like that it’s good for him to be able to finish that out.”