By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

State tournament berths are up for grabs across the state with substate finals in all three classes on Saturday.

West High, City High and Regina will be attempting to earn return trips to Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines for the state tournament that runs June 1-3.

Clear Creek Amana and Solon are attempting to get back to the state tournament after short breaks without an appearance.

Solon is seeking its first state tournament trip since 2012 while the Clippers haven’t played at state since 2014.

Here is a quick breakdown of the substate final matchups for area teams.

Class 1A Substate 5

Columbus (11-5) vs. No. 4 Solon (15-5)

When: Saturday, Noon

Where: Spartan Stadium at Solon

Player to Watch: Columbus senior Eric Cantarero ranks ninth in Class 1A with 21 goals and has added 10 assists to directly account for better than half of his team’s scoring.

Breakdown: Solon hosted the substate final a year ago but wasn’t playing in it after falling to West Liberty in the semifinals.

The Spartans made sure they weren’t spectators at their home field this season with a 3-0 semifinal win over Fort Madison Holy Trinity.

Now Solon will attempt to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2012.

“I know we have the talent and the potential,” Solon senior Ben Carr said. “All of us our excited and passionate about trying to make it.”

Solon enters riding a four-match shutout streak and hasn’t allowed a goal since a 2-1 loss to Maquoketa on May 2.

The Spartans have scored 13 goals during their current four-match winning streak, four by sophomore Luke Yetley who has a team-high 15 goals on the season.

Solon’s defense will be tested by a Cantarero and a Columbus attack that has scored 25 goals while winning five of its last six matches.

Columbus has scored at least two goals in eight if its last nine matches including six straight.

“We have had good kids, good teams lately and the last few years we haven’t gotten the results,” Solon coach Jeremy McMurrin said. “That’s what it is all about is getting the results it doesn’t have to be pretty as long as you win that’s all that matters and they have done a great job of getting results.”

Class 1A Substate 6

No. 15 Williamsburg (11-5) vs. No. 3 Regina (12-5)

When: Saturday, Noon

Where: Regal Field at Regina

Player to Watch: Regina junior Nick Pechous has scored a team-high 16 goals this season including the game-winner in a 2-1 win over Iowa Mennonite in the substate semifinals.

Breakdown: State tournament regular Regina seeks its 10th consecutive appearance in Des Moines against a Williamsburg squad attempting to qualifying for state for the first time.

Regina has been tested by a challenging schedule with four of five losses coming to either Class 3A opponents or teams ranked in the top-five of 1A.

“Coach puts those teams on our schedule to get us ready for the state championships and the state semis and it works to our advantage huge,” Regina sophomore Kieler Brown said.

The Regals enter riding a three-match winning streak after downing IMS in the semifinals.

Williamsburg ranks third in Class 1A allowing just 11 goals this season and has given up just one goal in its last five matches.

The Raiders are led by the trio of Matthew Cronquist (15 goals), Zach Litwiller (10 goals) and Leighton Jones (9 goals).

Brown (10 goals) and Mason Welter (7 goals, 7 assists) join Pechous to give Regina a trio of talented scoring options.

Class 2A Substate 4

Clear Creek Amana (11-6) vs. No. 16 Marion (10-4)

When: Saturday, Noon

Where: Marion 

Player to Watch: Clear Creek Amana Senior Wyatt Sedlacek ranks second on the team with nine goals and has a team-high six assists.

Breakdown: Clear Creek Amana avenged a regular season loss in the semifinals with a 3-0 win over Maquoketa and can return to the state tournament for the first time since 2014 if it can avenge another regular season loss on Saturday.

Marion won a 2-1 overtime decision over the Clippers back on April 25 that was part of a 7-0 start for the Indians.

Since its strong start Marion has gone 3-4, losing three of its final four regular season matches while being outscored 13-5.

Clear Creek Amana enters the substate final riding a three-match winning streak in which it has outscored opponents 19-0.

The Clippers have been one of the stingiest defense teams in Class 2A this season allowing 12 goals on the year.

Class 3A Substate 3

No. 13 Waterloo West (15-6) vs. No. 14 West High (11-7)

When: Saturday, Noon

Where: Barker Field at West High

Player to Watch: Senior Alex Andersen is the top offensive weapon for West High and part of a senior class that will be attempting to close their career at Barker Field with a win.  

Breakdown: The two Mississippi Valley Conference rivals meet for the second time in 10 days this time with a trip to the state tournament on the line. Waterloo West edged West High 3-2 on May 18 as West High ended the regular season with back-to-back losses.

West High bounced back with an 8-1 win over Mason City in the substate semifinals on Wednesday while Waterloo West avenged a 5-0 regular season loss with a 2-1 win over Cedar Rapids Washington in the semifinals.

Substate finals have a tendency to be low scoring but expect plenty of action between two teams that combined have allowed two or more goals 12 times.

Waterloo West ranks second in Class 3A with 71 goals on the season and has three players with double digits goals.

Adin Turanovic leads the WaHawks with 12 goals and 7 asssits while Edvin Rizvic has 11 goals and Alen Sehic has 10.

Class 3A Substate 5

No. 10 Pleasant Valley (16-3) vs. No. 4 City High (15-3)

When: Saturday, Noon

Where: University of Iowa Soccer Complex 

Player to Watch: City High junior Jonah Dancer leads the Little Hawks with nine goals and is second with four assists after scoring a goal and adding three assists in the substate semifinals.

Breakdown: Defending 3A runner-up City High is seeking a sixth consecutive trip to the state tournament against a Pleasant Valley squad attempting to earn its first state appearance.

City High has followed up a mid-season, three-match losing skid with nine consecutive wins and has outscored opponents 33-4 during that stretch.

The Little Hawks advanced with a 10-1 semifinal win over Western Dubuque and have scored six or more goals three time in their past four matches.

Pleasant Valley enters as one of the top defensive teams in Class 3A allowing nine goals on the season.

Two of the three losses for the Spartans have been scoreless matches decided by penalty kicks and Pleasant Valley has 10 shutouts this season after a 1-0 win over Muscatine in the substate semifinals.

Pleasant Valley doesn’t have a player with double digit goals by has playmakers in Camden Glenn (9 goals), Owen Ward (15 assists) and Isaac Ward (13 assists).