The boys who play soccer at Xavier and Kennedy pass each other on the way to school in northeast Cedar Rapids every day and they're all entitled to raise their index finger as the No.1 soccer team in Iowa.

The Saints are No.1 in Class 2A and the Cougars are No.1 in Class 3A, but now the Saints are No.1 on 42nd Street.

At least for now.

Isaac Frisch scored midway through the first half and Paul Cavin made a series of acrobatic saves as Xavier handed Kennedy its first loss of the season, 1-0, Friday evening at the Kennedy field.

"It's good to defeat a No.1 team," said Frisch, who has scored 10 goals in 11 games this season. "We knew we had to come in with high intensity and we did it."

The Metro area and Mississippi Valley Conference are loaded with outstanding soccer teams this year, with the Saints and Cougars two prime examples.

"It comes down to which team has more intensity and really which team has more leadership," said Frisch, speaking about the conference in general, "and I think we do this year."

Xavier raised its record to 8-3, with all three losses to Class 3A teams by one goal each time. Kennedy fell to 11-1.

The Saints expect another tough battle Saturday when they visit Dubuque Wahlert, which is ranked No.9 in Class 2A.

"I was telling the guys, this is job half-done," said Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic, looking ahead to Wahlert. "It's nice to win, especially against the No.1 team - especially the way we did it. It's not like we had a fluke goal or something.

"It's a great feeling for me as a coach when you can hang out with these big schools."

Eli Smith helped set up the winning goal with some good work at his offensive end of the field. The ball got banged around and landed at Frisch's doorstep about 20 yards in front of Kennedy goalkeeper Nathan Althoff.

It happened quickly and Frisch had an open look at the goal. "All I had to do was tap it in," he said.

Kennedy has allowed only five goals in 12 games this season. Althoff has eight shutouts and made several pretty saves Friday, but the Saints managed to get one by him.

Cavin was a magician at his end. He dove to his left, dove to his right and leaped high to keep Kennedy off the board.

"It was a lot of fun today," said Cavin, who credited his teammates for keeping the Cougars at bay. "I love playing with these guys.

"They give me enough time to react. Good defense."

Hadzic said Cavin has played very well this season. He said the netminder had some "extra pounds" when he was younger, but said he's worked hard to become a top-notch athlete.

"This year he made another huge jump," the coach said. "This is eight shutouts. He really gives us so much confidence by catching every high ball and dominating the box. And he can punt the ball 80-90 yards. It's really helpful."

Frisch got a yellow card wth 12:02 left in the game when he accidentally collided with Kennedy's Mitch Bobbin. Frisch had to serve a 10-minute penalty, but his teammates survived without him.

"I was just going for the ball and trying to win it," said Frisch, "but it didn't happen that way and I hit him and I got a card for it. But oh well. The game's over."