Sports Xavier High School Saints kickin’ competition The road to eight
14
The Xavier boys’ soccer team played Linn-Mar on Thursday, May 2 in cold and unfavorable conditions. Sophomore Connor Ramlo scored in the first three minutes of the game off of an assist by senior captain Isaac Frisch. Both teams did not score for the next 77 minutes of the game; therefore the Saints came out on top, winning 1-0. “For me personally, I am trying to take it one game at a time and play how we always do,” senior captain Daniel Cowden said. The Saints competed against Cedar Falls on Tuesday, May 7 at Xavier High School. Cowden got an early goal off a pass from senior captain Eli Smith in the first few minutes of the game. Ramlo added one more goal late in the game off a pass from Cowden. Going into the game, Cedar Falls had been on a seven game winning streak; Xavier ended that by dominating the game and winning 2-0. The Saints played
Senior captain Elijah Smith fights for possession of the ball. Megan Lynch Photo. Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Friday, April 10 at Kennedy High School. Both teams were ranked number one; Xavier in 2A and Kennedy in 3A. Kennedy had been undefeated for the season going into the game. “As a team, we knew we were going to have to ignore all of the talk and hype and just go out and play our game,” Cowden said. Frisch scored midway through the first half for the Saints, and the team held the Cougars off for the rest of the game. Senior goalkeeper Paul Cavin made several saves for the team, helping the team to a victory of 1-0.
Xavier played Dubuque Wahlert in Dubuque on Saturday, April 11 in a rescheduled match. Neither team scored in the first half, but with 15 minutes left in the game, Ramlo scored for the Saints. After that, Wahlert scored two more goals in the last 10 minutes of the game helping them win 2-1. The Saints played Dubuque Senior on Tuesday, and play tonight against Cedar Rapids Prairie. Lizzy McWhinney Sports Editor
Girls’ golf continued success
The girls’ golf team has continued their strong season. “Our main goal for the season is to improve our scores so we can make it to State,” junior Maddie Bertsch said. The team has had many meets in the last two weeks to try to make up all of the meets that were postponed earlier in the season. The team started their string of meets by competing in the LinnMar Invitational at Hunters Ridge on April 24. Xavier placed second in this 11-team meet. Bertsch led the way for the Saints, shooting an 83 over 18 holes. This score put Bertsch in a tie for second place and only three shots behind the meet medalist. Junior Grace Winker shot a 90 and tied for sixth in the meet. The very next day, the team played in the Linn-Mar quadrangular at Hunters Ridge. Xavier placed second again, and Winker shot a 44, which was the low score for the girls. Bertsch and freshman Amy Olberding were not far behind as they shot a 45. The Saints then participated in four meets, in four days. On April 29, the team golfed in the MVC Super Meet at Pheasant Ridge in Cedar Falls. In this 14-team event, Xavier placed second. Bertsch led the way for the Saints, shooting an 84 and tying for third. Winker and junior Kara Zwanziger also placed well,
and both shot an 85. The next day the Saints had a meet against Iowa City Regina at Pleasant Valley. The team dominated the meet, winning by 38 strokes. Bertsch shot a 38, and was the meet medalist. On May 1, the girls competed in the CRANDIC golf meet at Gardner. This meet was a make up from earlier in the year. Xavier won the nine-team meet, and played excellently all around. Bertsch was on top of the scoreboard again, and she beat the second place golfer by eight strokes. The rest of the team also placed well. Seniors Hailey Sojka and Lisa Olberding tied for third, and Zwanziger and Winker tied for sixth. Then the team placed second in a seven-team meet at the Irv Warren golf course in Waterloo on May 6. Bertsch led the way for Xavier as she shot a 76, three strokes behind the leader. Next, the girls competed in a quadrangular at Gardner on May 8. The team won by a decisive 28 strokes. Bertsch and Lisa Olberding were the co-medalists with a score of 40. “We have been off to a great start and have posted some of our lowest scores ever,” Winker said. The girls will try to qualify for State on May 20 and 21 at Edmondson Golf Course in Oskaloosa.
Kyle D’mello Sports Writer
The Saints girls’ soccer team has found their rhythm with only a few games left in the season before postseason play. In a game against Cedar Rapids Washington, Kayla Armstrong scored twice in the first half, both on assists from senior Sammi Shepard. Brylee Bastian scored in the second half and the Saints went on to win 3-0. The next game for the Saints was against 3A second-ranked and undefeated Linn-Mar at home on May 2. The opposing Lions came into the game without allowing a goal all season. Armstrong ended that quickly, scoring a goal two minutes into the game. The rest of the game was scoreless, as Armstrong’s lone goal was enough to knock off the Lions, 1-0. The girls faced off next against Cedar Falls on May 8 at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex. Armstrong surpassed a hat trick scoring four times in the team’s 4-1 win. Last Friday, Xavier battled against 42nd
Street rival and class 3A eighthranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy at home. At halftime Kennedy led 1-0, but the Saints emerged in the second half scoring four goals as they won 4-1. Armstrong scored three of those goals and junior Marissa Berutti scored one. The Saints are 10-1 on the year and ranked first in 2A. The girls have two more regular season games before substate play begins. This year’s senior group is looking to win their fourth State Championship as players and the eighth consecutive State Championship as a school. “We’ve had a great group of seniors and we really want to end our careers here by winning a State Championship” Armstrong said. The girls’ first substate game is scheduled at home on May 28 at 5 p.m.
After a 24-18 2012 season and a crushing 18-3 loss to Clear Creek Amana in the regional final, the Xavier softball team has been grinding all off-season with a chip on their shoulder. “We have worked really hard in the off-season and have all nine returning starters, along with many underclassmen who will help contribute to the team’s success,” senior Jenna Schulte said. New head coach Nikki Price replaced coach Brian Erbe, who took the head coaching job at
Jefferson High School. Price has been an assistant coach at Xavier for the past eight years. “She has earned the opportunity to direct the Xavier softball program. I look forward to working with Nikki as she brings her own ideas to making our program even better,” Xavier Athletic Director Mike Winker said. The team first competes Tuesday, May 28 against Dubuque Wahlert.
Alex Fox Sports Writer
Summer softball preview
Connor Collins Sports Editor