Xavier Girls Soccer

Armstrong will get her kicks at Drake

Kayla Armstrong wanted to find a college where she could play soccer at a high level and study to become a pharmacist.

She found both at Drake.

Armstrong, an all-state player who helped Xavier win the Class 2A title last spring, has committed to the Bulldogs and will enroll as a freshman next year.

"I visited the campus and I sort of fell in love," she said Friday night. "It's close enough to home, so my parents can come to the games."

Armstrong collected 30 goals last season, the third-most in Class 2A, and had seven assists. She was named the captain of the all-tournament team at the 2A state meet and helped the Saints win their seventh straight title, an IGHSAU record in any sport.

Armstrong, a forward with ultra-quick moves and a strong shot, scored two goals in a 3-1 victory over North Scott in the championship game.

Armstrong visited Minnesota before committing to Drake. She said she enjoyed her trip to the Twin Cities.

"I really love that campus, but it was kind of too big," she said. "I just liked the private aspect of Drake. It's kind of like high school, but it's still bigger."

Armstrong is glad to have made the decision. "It's good knowing I don't have to worry about that the rest of high school," she said.

Drake competes in the Missouri Valley Conference and plays its home games at the Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines. The Bulldogs took a 9-2 record into Saturday's game against Missouri State.

"They've started off really well this year," Armstrong noted.

Drake Coach Lindsey Horner has been with the program for 10 years, including five years as the head coach. Katie Helmlinger of Cedar Rapids Kennedy is a sophomore on the Drake soccer team.

Armstrong, Dale, Dickerman top girls all-state soccer

Kayla Amstrong of Xavier, Annie Dale of Xavier and Kaela Dickerman of Kennedy have been named first team all-state by the Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Association.

Armstrong and Dale made the Class 2A all-state team after helping the Saints win the Class 2A state title. Dickerman helped the Cougars capture the Class 3A state crown.

Lauren Konchar and Mary Levett of Xavier received second-team honors in Class 2A.

Olivia Garcia of Linn-Mar was named second team all-state in Class 3A. Rylie Frese of Linn-Mar received Honorable Mention in Class 3A.

A Brit, a Scot and their special girls

A game was about to begin at the state soccer tournament Friday in Muscatine and Doug Graham was patting the girls on the back, slapping hands and encouraging them to play well.

You see coaches do that all the time, but this was different. Graham coaches the Xavier girls soccer team, and he was encouraging Kennedy to play well in its semifinal contest.

This wasn't some phony, insincere "let's be friends" gesture on the part of the Xavier coach. Soccer is a close-knit fraternity (and sorority), and on top of that Graham is a friendly guy who emigrated to the United States from Great Britain 30 years ago.

"He's a Londoner," quipped Kennedy Coach Andrew McKnight, who is from Scotland. "That's why you can't understand anything he says."

Graham is the co-owner (with his sister) of The Londoner, a British pub and restaurant in Cedar Rapids, and he made a friendly offer to the Cougars if they continued their surprising march through the state tournament and actually won the Class 3A title.

"What did he say?" McKnight asked Hannah Palomo, one of his star players, feigning not to remember.

"Free food and drink," Palomo responded on cue.

"So what is that?," McKnight wondered. "All the diet coke you can drink?"

There might be a few pints of The Londoner's favorite brew tossed in for the adults, along with free food and pop for the girls.

Kennedy upheld its end of the bargain, upsetting top-ranked Ankeny for the Class 3A title. That came just a few hours after Xavier whipped North Scott, 3-1, for the Class 2A crown, making 42nd Street NE the capital of Iowa girls soccer for 2012.

It was a remarkable 72 hours for the Saints and Cougars at the Muscatine Soccer Complex. The Saints became the first school in the 86-year history of girls sports in Iowa to win seven consecutive state titles in any sport, and the Cougars became one of the few teams in state history to upset the No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 teams on consecutive days to claim a state title of their own.

Ankeny was undefeated this year and had won 31 straight matches since 2011 before the seventh-ranked Cougars knocked them off their perch.

McKnight was kidding about Graham and his British accent, of course, but there were times during the tournament when the Saints would look at Graham with blank expressions after he got done shouting instructions.

"What did he just say?," they seemed to be thinking.

"He's unique, definitely," said Xavier star Kayla Armstrong, a junior who is being recruited by top Division I schools. "He's got his own coaching style and he tries to get us motivated. We really want to come out and win for him."

You can hear Graham's voice all over the pitch, even if you can't always decipher his words.

"Annie DALE! Great ball, Annie! GREAT ball!," he'd shout after a good pass.

"Kayla ARMSTRONG! Great shot, Kayla. GREAT shot," or "Un-LUCKY, Kayla, Un-LUCKY," if a ball would go slightly astray.

Graham would look for spots to get Holly "Flip Throw" Hazelton into the game, especially if there was a chance for Hazelton to execute one of her crowd-pleasing "Windmill" throw-ins where she puts the ball on the ground, backs up a few steps, does a 360-degree cartwheel, grabs the ball and tosses it a long way over a surprised defender's head.

Graham would break into a big smile every time that happened, then give Hazelton a hug or slap hands the next time she came back to the bench for a rest.

Graham has been Xavier's head coach for four years and is 4-for-4 at the state tournament. McKnight became Kennedy's head coach this year and won the 3A title in his first season at the helm.

McKnight, 40, isn't nearly as flamboyant as Graham, who turned 50 on Saturday, but he's obviously an effective coach with his own style. McKnight encourages his girls to make long passes to the forwards, trying to break someone free for a quick goal, and sure enough it worked several times at key spots in the tournament.

McKnight works with the U.S. Olympic Development program in Iowa and helped coach the successful Iowa City Alliant club soccer program for many years. He thinks that a happy, motivated team that plays together is the best formula for success and credits the entire Kennedy staff for making that happen this year.

"I firmly believe that," he remarked.

You don't have to love soccer to admire the way Graham and McKnight coached their teams to state titles in Muscatine. And you don't have to love soccer to admire the athleticism and skill of their talented players.

The Saints and Cougars ran up and down the 120-yard field for three straight days with the temperature in the mid-80's, ignoring bumps and bruises and sore legs in their pursuit of excellence and state crowns.

Girls soccer is not always a polite ladies sport, at least not the way it was played in Muscatine.

"They're athletes," said Graham. "Tomorrow they become young ladies again. When they're dressed in blue with their soccer cleats on, they're athletes."

There was no misunderstanding that.

SEVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MUSCATINE - All Doug Graham wanted for his 50th birthday Saturday was a record-setting victory for the Xavier girls soccer team.

Happy birthday, Coach.

The Saints became the first team in the 86-year history of girls athletics in Iowa to win seven straight titles in any sport when they clipped North Scott, 3-1, in the finals of the Class 2A state tournament on a warm, sunny day at the Muscatine Soccer Complex.

Kayla Armstrong scored two goals and Annie Dale collected the other as the Saints reached seventh heaven with their historic triumph.

The Saints sang a chorus of "Happy Birthday" to their London-born coach and later doused him with a bucket of ice water as part of their victory celebration.

Graham emigrated to the United States 30 years ago and owns The Londoner, a British pub and restaurant, on Center Point Road NE, but he said his first love is coaching the Xavier girls.

"There will be a little party tonight," announced Graham, who hugged and kissed as many of his players as he could find. "There will be a little party to celebrate the birthday and the win. You can't get better than that."

Dale broke a scoreless battle with a left-footed goal with 5:07 left in the first half to relieve the stress and pressure on her club. Armstrong, named the captain of the all-tournament team, made it 2-0 with 16:29 left in the game, but No. 14 North Scott got a goal two minutes later from Chloe Gottschalk and the fight was on again.

Armstrong ended the suspense with a goal with exactly one minute left in the 80-minute contest. The celebration began a minute later with a handsome trophy, a state championship flag and lots of happy pictures.

"I'm speechless, for once in my life," declared Armstrong, a soccer natural who sways to music before games. "I'm just so happy we could come through and wrap it up at the end and just give it our all one last time."

Armstrong was joined on the all-tournament team by Dale, goal keeper Sarah Chicchelly and defender surpreme Mary Levett. The Saints won Class 1A titles in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and have captured Class 2A crowns the past two years in what is now a three-class system with 1A, 2A and 3A for the biggest schools.

"They're a tough program," said North Scott Coach Dion Ayers. "They're a program that probably could have a chance every year of winning 3A. We knew we had our hands full."

Indeed, the Saints defeated the Class 3A champs this year with a 3-2 victory over Kennedy during the regular season. The Cougars won the 3A title Saturday with a 2-1 verdict over Ankeny.

Dale led the bucket brigade that dumped the ice water on Graham. That elicited another round of cheers from the Saints.

"Right now I'm just so happy that the game is over and that we won," said Levett. "I haven't even had a chance to think about the significance of what just happened. But I'm sure when I do start thinking about it a little more it will just blow my mind. I think this is crazy that we just broke the record."

Cedar Falls won six straight girls swimming titles (1993-98), Bettendorf won six straight tennis titles (1995-2000) and Dubuque Wahlert won six straight volleyball titles (2000-2005), but no team had won seven straight until these Saints came along.

"It's a great accomplishment. It truly is," said Graham. "It's a testimony to the girls. Their work ethic is tremendous."

Dale hugged her teammates like she didn't want to let go.

"All I can think about is, I'm done now. I have no more Xavier soccer left," she said. "I'm so proud of our team right now."

Dale played with a sore right quad muscle that required treatment during halftime, but she refused to leave the game. "It's numb," she said. "I'm sore, but it was worth it. It was so worth it."

The Saints ended the season with an 18-2 record. North Scott finished 12-10.