Cedar Rapids Washington Coach J.P. Graham gives his soccer team several options on what play to call on free kicks.

The Warriors picked the right one Thursday.

Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben drilled the game-winning goal from about 30 yards to the left of the net Thursday night as Washington trimmed Marshalltown, 2-1, in the Class 3A substate semifinals at Kingston Stadium.

Washington (9-8) will play No. 4 Linn-Mar (15-3) in the substate finals Saturday at noon at Linn-Mar Stadium, with the winner advancing to the state tournament in Des Moines.

The Warriors are told to scrutinize the defense and look for tendencies when they have a free kick. They missed a chance earlier in the match Thursday, but Hidalgo-Wohlleben connected when it counted with 23 minutes, 20 seconds left to snap a 1-1 tie.

"The keeper went to the near-post," Graham said. "Manny hit it and got it over the wall. It kind of knuckled, too. It was a nasty shot."

In fact, it was nearly perfect. Hidalgo-Wohlleben lined the ball over a wall of four defenders and barely over the arms of the Marshalltown goalkeeper before it nestled safely in the net.

A perfect shot?

"I'm not sure," said Hidalgo-Wohlleben. "It was hard to see over the wall (of defenders). The keeper kind of went one way, which means I got a little lucky."

It was Hidalgo-Wohlleben's second goal of the season.

"It's great to get the goal, but I just wanted to get the win," he said. "I want to get to state. I want to play Linn-Mar. I want to beat Linn-Mar."

The Warriors lost a tight game to Linn-Mar, 3-1, earlier in the season. The game was tied, 1-1, late in the contest before Linn-Mar scored a pair of goals. "It was a pretty close, tough game," said Hidalgo-Wohlleben.

Linn-Mar appears to have more firepower than Washington, so Graham is hoping for a low-scoring affair.

"I'd like 1-0 or 2-1," he said. "I don't know if we're going to get three or four (goals) on them. They're the kind of team that can explode.

"I've got a plan for it. I hope it works," said Graham. "We'll change a few things and get the guys rested up tonight. I can't wait. I love substate finals."

The winner heads to Des Moines for the state tournament. The loser goes home for the year.

"It's going to take a lot of focus, a lot of concentration," said Hidalgo-Wohlleben. "I play with a lot of the players on Linn-Mar (in club soccer). I know they're a really good team, they have a lot of quality players."

Aroni Niyakiza scored the first goal for Washington Thursday. Oswaldo Rodriguez tallied for Marshalltown (9-9).

Washington goalkeeper Gunner Lenzen made two key saves in the latter stages of the game to protect the 2-1 lead. He made a leaping save and deflected the ball off the goal post at one point and also made a diving stop to his left.