DES MOINES - Connor Geuder never expected to get a chance to win the game for the Washington Warriors in their PK Shootout against Sioux City West

Thursday at the state soccer tournament.

He's mighty glad he did.

Geuder connected as the No. 7 man for the Warriors in the Shootout and then joined the celebration when Washington goalie Gunnar Lenzen stopped Sioux City West's seventh man for a dramatic 2-1 victory in the opening round of the Class 3A tournament in Des Moines.

Each team gets five shooters for a PK round when a game is tied after two overtimes. That's usually enough shooters to settle things, but not this time.

Geuder knew he was seventh in line, but never figured it would get that far.

"No, I didn't," he said. "I thought we were going to make it in the first five.

"It feels great. It feels awesome," he said happily. "I didn't think it would be me to shoot for it."

Washington (15-4) will face Iowa City West (19-1), an old nemesis, in the semifinals Friday at 5:05 p.m. on Field 6 at the Cownie Soccer Park. Iowa City West has won the past two state titles and four of the past five.

Washington Coach J.P. Graham has taken the Warriors to the state tournament seven times and thinks his record against Iowa City West here is something like 0-and-5.

"We've been really unlucky," said Graham. "We seem to always have one bad call go against us or a lucky goal. Something always seems to happen.

"The kids know that," he said. "We want to redeem ourselves for the past. The seniors especially."

Iowa City West defeated Washington during the regular season and is seeded No. 2 for the state tournament. The Warriors are seeded No. 6, but they've already eliminated the No. 3 seed from Sioux City West.

Geuder's goal gave Washington a 5-4 lead in the PK Shootout. Juan Carlos Perez was the No.7 man for the Wolverines with a chance to keep it going, but Lenzen sized him up and had a hunch what was going to happen.

"From his run-up, I could tell he was opening up his hips," said Lenzen. "And usually when they open up their hips they're going to come to my left."

That's exactly what happened. Perez fired and Lenzen lunged to his left. He deflected the ball, but did not stop it completely.

"When I saw it hit the post I was SO happy," said Lenzen. "I didn't know if it was going to go in because I didn't get my entire hand on it.

"It feels good to beat a team that's 18-and-1," he said.

Richard Moncada gave Sioux City West a 1-0 lead with 7:15 left in the first half. It stayed that way for a long time, but the Warriors finallygot the equalizer with 16:06 remaining in the second half.

Jacob Bjornsen made a perfect left-footed pass in front of the goal and Antonio "AJ" Patterson knocked it home for a 1-1 tie.

It stayed 1-1 for the rest of the second half and both overtimes, setting up the dramatic PK Shootout with the season at stake for both clubs.

Sioux City West changed goalies for the Shootout, inserting Manuel Garcia for Felipe Barbosa, because Garcia reportedly has more experience in Shootouts.

Neither team scored with its first shooter. Patterson connected for Washington, but Sioux City West answered to make it 1-1.

Mike Eken scored for Washington, but Sioux City West countered and it was 2-2. Evan Fisher converted for the Warriors, but the Wolverines answered again and it was 3-3.

Bjornsen scored for Wash, but Sioux City West responded and it was 4-4 after five guys. Alex Kennedy was unable to score for Washington as the No. 6 guy, but Lenzen stopped the next Sioux City West shooter to keep the Warriors alive.

Then it was up to Geuder, and the Washington sophomore connected for the biggest goal of his life.

Graham, who has been coaching the Warriors for 13 years, ranked the victory "pretty high" on his list of dramatic triumphs.

"Just because we had this monkey on our back losing in the quarterfinals," he said. "This is a huge deal for the kids. We're tired of bringing home the state participant trophy."

Graham said the Warriors had not reached the semifinals in five years, but they have now.

Linn-Mar (18-3) will face Johnston (20-0) in the other semifinal Friday at 5 p.m.