AMES —With scars from previous postseasons, Norwalk girls soccer left nothing to chance in their first state tournament game since 2022.
The No. 1-seed Warriors (17-1-2) blitzed No. 8 Lewis Central (12-8-2) with a goal in the opening minutes, and didn’t concede an inch from there in a 6-0 victory in the Class 2A state quarterfinals on June 8. Seniors Olivia Welch and Addy Wood each secured a hat trick late in the second half of action.
Wood made an impact first. Senior Pearl Brown fed the ball into the box, where Wood fired a shot past the Lewis Central goalkeeper in just the third minute of play to take a 1-0 lead. Welch got things going from there with a pair of goals in transition opportunities to put the Warriors up 3-0 in the 29th minute. Wood tallied her second goal in the 35th minute, where she looked to cross the ball into the box from the left corner, but found the back of the net instead to take a big 4-0 advantage into halftime.
“It’s just awesome to score so many goals and get that cushion,” Welch said.
The pace never slowed for the Warriors, as Welch completed her hat trick with six minutes left in the game. A free kick into the box got loose, with Welch burying it with little resistance. Just four minutes later, Wood joined the hat-trick club with a shot from distance that she flicked the ball over the head of the goalkeeper to put an exclamation point on the win.
Norwalk advances to take on No. 4 North Scott on Thursday in the state semifinals. In the past two seasons, the Warriors had fallen short in penalty kicks in the regional finals. Now at the state tournament, this senior class is locked in on winning it all.
“We’re not done yet,” Wood said. ” We know what it feels like to lose. Coming back and going to state, we’re just going to win it.”
No. 7 North Polk upends No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock, 2-1
In the lone upset of the day, the Comets took down a perennial contender. While Campbell Schulz and Addison Flinn led with goals, it was defense and goalkeeping from Madelyn Cory that saw North Polk advance to Thursday’s semifinals.
North Polk jumped out in front in the first half off a corner kick in the 28th minute. Schulz took the corner, bending it into a crowd and ultimately finding the back. Right away in the second half, a free kick from Sophia Cromley got loose in the box. Flinn was there to finish the play and give her squad a 2-0 lead.
Waverly-Shell Rock’s Linde Hubbard would score in the 55th minute on a breakaway to cut the deficit in half, but the Comet defense continued to shine. All game, the high-powered Go-Hawks offense led by Anaka Ott (27 season goals) brought pressure, but the Comets’ defense and key saves from Cory took North Polk to the state semifinals. They’ll take on 3-seed Dallas Center-Grimes on Thursday at 2:45 p.m.
“To be a 7 seed and take down a 2 seed, a really, really good team like that, shows a lot of resilience, a lot of grit and determination from my group to make their way through this tournament one more time,” said North Polk head coach Francis Lee.
No. 3 Dallas Center-Grimes handles business vs. No. 6 Bishop Heelan, 3-0
The reigning four-time champions comfortably advanced to the state semifinals in a 3-0 victory over the Crusaders. It was led by the Heidgerken sisters, Paisley and Tenley, who each tallied a goal in the win.
DCG took a 1-0 advantage in the 31st minute. A pass into the box found the foot of sophomore Paisley Heidgerken, who found the back of the net. That moment gave the Mustangs a one-goal advantage heading into halftime.
In the 55th minute, Paisley’s younger sister followed suit. Freshman Tenley found an open shot on goal from just outside the box, catching all of the ball to find the upper-left corner of the goal to push the Mustangs’ lead to 2-0. The exclamation point came from Olivia Ewers, who cleaned up a loose ball in the box to cap off a near-perfect day in Ames for DCG.
While the Heidgerkens are only underclassmen, they led the Mustangs to a familiar place in the state semifinals.
“Just two kids that never give up on our team, battle and do whatever we ask of them,” DCG head coach Dan James said.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Norwalk, DCG, North Polk advance to Iowa girls soccer state semifinals
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Eli McKown, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
