Metro Sports Report

Saints stopped by Norwalk in semifinals

DES MOINES - Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic warned his players to keep an eye on No. 8 for the Norwalk Warriors Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Class 2A boys state soccer tournament, but the warning went for naught.

Norwalk freshman Kason Crall got them anyway.

Crall got a perfect feed from the corner and used his head to score the only goal as second-ranked Norwalk defeated No.4 Xavier, 1-0, on a warm, sunny day at the Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines.

Crall leaped high in the goal mouth with no Xavier defenders in the way and executed a perfect header over the outstretched arms of Xavier goalie Nick Huss, who leaped as high as he could but had little time to react.

"Nick Huss was phenomenal today in our goal," said Hadzic. "He couldn't do anything to prevent that."

No. 1 Johnston holds off Lions

DES MOINES - In the latter stages of the postseason, the margin for error is often very slim, and that was certainly the case for Linn-Mar on Friday in its narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of top-ranked and undefeated Johnston in the Class 3A semifinals at the Cownie Soccer Complex.

Two key sequences, which could have gone either way, favored the Dragons who were able to advance to Saturday's championship game against Iowa City West.

With 35:53 left to go in the second half, Johnston’s Pete Lashier lofted a free kick from the left corner into a crowd. The ball ricocheted off several players, before a Lions defender inadvertently tipped it past senior goalkeeper Jared Belin into his own net. Following the game, Dragon coaches confirmed it was an own-goal and didn’t credit anyone with the score.

“It was just a bad session there in the back,” said Linn-Mar Coach Corey Brinkmeyer. “Jared came out and got the ball, made a great attempt at it, but there was so much traffic in there. One thing led to another.”

Despite the stroke of bad luck earlier in the second half, Linn-Mar was in position to tie the match with just over 18 minutes remaining when Leroy Enzugusi received a ball in the box and was taken out by a defender. Two referees converged, with the head official over-ruling an initial penalty call.

Pirates make Keller a happy guy

Mitch Keller plans to play for the Xavier Saints in their doubleheader at Cedar Rapids Prairie Friday night, but he probably won't be around much longer.

The Pirates selected the 6-foot-3 right-hander from Xavier High School Thursday night in the second round of the Major League Draft with the 64th pick overall.

Keller said Friday morning he's interested in signing with Pittsburgh, rather than attending the University of North Carolina, but said no final decisions have been made.

The signing bonus for the 64th pick is slotted at $886,800, although final terms can be negotiated. The contract would include money for college, should he elect to attend school at some point.

Keller said he barely got any sleep Thursday night after hearing his name called in the draft while watching on MLB.com. It took nearly five hours, but he finally got the news he wanted.

Xavier's Jasper finishes third in 1A singles

Xavier's Allison Jasper defeated Dubuque Wahlert's Courtney Schneider, 5-7, 6-0, 10-7 to finish third in the Class 1A state singles tournament Friday in Iowa City.

Jasper lost to eventual champion Haley Resnick of Davenport Assumption in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-0.

In Class 2A action at Ames, Kennedy's Jessica Pedersen finished fourth, falling to eventual champion Chloe Jefferies in a three-set semifinal before dropping a staight-set decision to  Ames' Judith Fan