Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – It was a matchup typically reserved for the state tournament.

West High and Bettendorf – two tradition-rich boys’ soccer programs each possessing a state-best 20 state berths – clashed at Barker Field Wednesday night in a Class 3A substate final.

That meant only one could earn No. 21.

“Defensively, we were very solid,” West High coach Brad Stiles said after the third-ranked Trojans blanked No. 9 Bettendorf, 3-0. “Very few mistakes today, which is good to see going into the tournament. We got a lot of effort from a lot of guys today, which is always good to see.”

The victory is the 16th in a row for West High (18-1), which is in the state tournament for the 20th time in its last 21 seasons, including the last five in a row.

Stiles has been the head coach for 19 of those 21 total state tournament appearances.

“I’d like to think it means we stood the test of time,” Stiles said. “We were consistent enough to keep going that many times.”

West Des Moines Valley joined West High atop the state history book with its 21st state tournament bid by defeating Ankeny on Wednesday night.

A loss by top-ranked and previously-unbeaten Waukee propelled West to the No. 1 seed in the 3A state tournament bracket.

The Trojans will open with a state quarterfinal match against eighth-seeded Sioux City West (15-2) Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines.

“We are going into state very confident thanks to the score we put up tonight,” West High junior goalkeeper Nicholas McDonnell said.

West High sophomore forward Michael Nelson got the scoring started for the Trojans in the 28th minute when he bounced in a header off a long pass from senior defender Jared Gilliam.

“First header this season, first goal (of the match),” said Nelson, who ranks second on the team with 11 goals this season. “I was excited for that one. Luckily, I had an amazing player pass that to me.”

Gilliam doubled his assist total for the entire season with his second assist of the match midway through the second half when he made a run down the left sideline and found junior midfielder Mukucha Omari for his first goal this season.

“I was feeling good once I got behind the second guy and got down the field,” Gilliam said. “And then I turned and saw Mukucha open and I just played the ball and he did the rest.”

Just over three minutes later, West High senior Brendan Klutts punctuated the impressive night for the Trojans with a strong strike for his second goal of the season, which extended his team’s lead to 3-0 with 21:37 to go.

“I saw the ball pop up and my mind kind of went blank,” Klutts said. “And I just hit it.”

After withstanding several strong offensive attacks from Bettendorf (14-4) in the first half without yielding a goal, the Trojans’ defense expertly smothered the Bulldogs’ offense and after halftime and completely eliminated any possible scoring threats.

“The first half we were really messy, we were really sloppy, we were really jittery and nervous,” McDonnell said. “So we cleaned up our passes, we cleaned up our positioning. That is all thanks to Coach Stiles’ coaching, of course. He shook us up and I think we played a lot more clean, a lot more crisp in the second half. That is really what helped us secure the shutout.”

Stiles confirmed that the Trojans may be without senior defender Owen Smith, who suffered a concussion in Monday’s substate semifinal victory over North Scott, when the state tournament begins.

“We’re going to need a little bit of luck on our side, that is for sure,” Stiles said.

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