Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – City High experienced a rather inauspicious start to its season last Saturday with a 7-0 loss to eighth-ranked Muscatine.

In order to move forward the Little Hawks had to put the disappointing season opener behind them – quickly.

“Right after the game we knew we had to move on,” City High senior Morgan Turner said. “We all knew it was behind us and we know we are a good team we just have to put the pieces together.”

City High took a big step forward on Thursday.

Turner and sophomore Maclayne Menzel scored goals as City High (1-1) bounced back from its opening loss with a 2-0 win over Davenport Central (2-2) on a cold, windy and damp afternoon at City High.

“Muscatine came out last week strong and fast and it just wasn’t ideal for us,” City High coach Corbin Schulz said. “I thought we came out today and were ready to play. Muscatine is a great team but once we fill in our gaps and work on positional things I think we are going to have a good season.”

After being shut out in the opener City High wasted no time creating offensive opportunities early on Thursday.

The Little Hawks got on the board less than 10 minutes into the game when junior Claire Brown made a run down the sideline and crossed a ball to Turner who slammed a shot past Davenport Central Addisen Ford.

“Claire made a good run down the line and I knew she was going to get a good ball in and I adjusted my body because I knew she was going to find me and just one touched it,” Turner said. “It was a great ball by her.”

The goal was the 10^th career score for Turner and swung the momentum to the City High sideline early on a challenging afternoon to play with the elements.

“That was a big boost to score early,” Brown said. “I had taken it to the line so there was no angle for me to take it. That’s what we work on at practice is crossing it and one-touch finishes so I knew she’d be there.”

City High led 1-0 at the half and saw momentum swing again early in the second half.

Davenport Central freshman Mary Cate Townsend had a breakaway and was one-on-one with City High keeper Sara Cassady with a golden opportunity to even the score with 25:30 remaining.

Cassady came out of the goal and forced Townsend to take a shot that sailed wide of the post and into the side of the net.

“She is a senior and she has been doing this long enough and she is smart enough to know where to be in good position,” Schulz said of Cassady. “She did the best she could with it and it ended up in our favor which was great.”

Less than two minutes later Menzel scored to give City High a 2-0 advantage.

“I told them treat every team like it’s a team like Muscatine, like it’s a team like Linn-Mar,” Schulz said. “I think we did well today. I think we handled the enthusiasm well.”

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