On April 14, the City High Little Hawks found themselves 1-3 to start the new soccer season. They had just lost a heartbreaker to their rivals West High 1-0 and were clearly emotional following the defeat.
After the game, their head coach Corbin Scholz told the Press-Citizen that the team was not going to let the loss bring them down.
Now over a month later, Scholz and the Little Hawks have kept their word.
Since that game, they have won nine of their next 10 games, including Tuesday’s Class 3A- Region 1 semifinals match against Cedar Falls, 1-0.
Crediting their revamped practice habits for their major turnaround, Scholz said that the players have started to get a lot more comfortable.
“You are going to play the way you practice,” Scholz said. “So, I think keeping everyone into it, especially after some of those tough losses. was big At the beginning of the season, it is hard to figure out where players will most be beneficial on the field and I think we have done a good job of figuring that out.”
At that time, their defense has been remarkably stingy, allowing just one opponent to score more than a single goal against them.
“We knew that in hard battles like tonight, we were going to work hard defensively,” junior Ava Bell said. “We try to make sure that our counterattacks are working because that is really our moment to get the ball back and try to score. So, we have worked extremely hard on defense at practice.”
In turn, they have averaged 4.6 goals per game, helped by the fact that they have five players who have scored at least four goals this season.
Seeming to be clicking on all cylinders, the Little Hawks find themselves primed to make a deep postseason run.
That was nearly the case last season when they made it to the Class 3A – Region 6 championship but ultimately lost to Waukee Northwest 3-0.
After missing that game due to injury, senior Claire Brown said that she looks forward to the challenge.
“Waukee Northwest has a ton of my club soccer teammates on their team,” Brown said. “So, going against them is going to be a really fun game. We are coming for something our current players have never gotten to – the state tournament. So, I think it would be exciting for us to battle and come out on top. “
They will have their chance on Thursday, May 25 when they travel back to Waukee to compete in the regional championship game.
Hoping to get the Little Hawks back to the state tournament for the first time since she was in high school, Scholz said that she does not plan on changing the team’s approach.
“You never want to change the plan,” Scholz said. “I think that it has been working out well for us and the girls have just kept getting better at it. Playing Waukee Northwest is going to be a tough game, but I think that playing more defensively and keeping the ball at our feet and not theirs is the key.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: The Little Hawks are on their way to the regional championship game