IMS drops match at state

DES MOINES - The only two spring state tournament appearances for Iowa Mennonite boys' soccer have been in the last two seasons.

IMS will have to wait for its first win at the state tournament, although that statement comes with a bit of an asterisk for 16th-ranked Iowa Mennonite. IMS actually won a state championship when there was a fall state tournament (1994-00).

IMS, seeded sixth, was ousted by third-seeded Sioux Center, 5-1, in a Class 1A boys' state quarterfinal Friday at Cownie Soccer Park.

'They are fast, they have got good speed up top and they are very skilled on the ball,” IMS Coach Marcus Miller said after his team lost for the second year in a row at state. 'Those are things we worked on. … Not only do they possess the ball well, but they are fast. I am not sure in the first five, 10 minutes, we were quite ready for that and they came out hard.”

Sioux Center (14-4) jumped on IMS with first-half goals from juniors Isa Granillo and Jose Martin. IMS got within 2-1 with a goal by junior forward Drew Blauvelt less than seven minutes into the second half, his third goal this season.

A Sioux Center penalty-kick conversion in the 55th minute started a string of three unanswered goals to end the match.

'After we got the handball in the box and the PK, more fouls just kept on adding up against us,” Blauvelt said. 'We just really didn't know what to do with it. We couldn't handle it.”

IMS ends its season at 12-5.

'Maybe next year, we'll be more prepared for things like that,” Blauveldt said.

For the second offseason in a row, IMS is expected to take a significant roster hit with graduation.

'I think we have had a good foundation,” Miller said. 'We made it here. We haven't done well two years in a row. This group, I don't think anybody expected them to have this kind of season. In many ways, we overachieved. They worked hard and we have gotten better. Hopefully some young guys keep improving and by the end of next year, we can make it back and do a better job.”

Other 1A games Friday were West Liberty 4, North Polk 2 and Iowa City Regina 2-1 over Greene County in overtime.

In Saturday's semifinals, Sioux Center lost to Waterloo Columbus Catholic 2-0 and Regina defeated West Liberty 3-1.

Regina plays Columbus Catholic at non Tuesday for the title.