June 9, 2010  MISSISSIPPI DIVISION All-conference selections

First team -- JD McCullough and Duncan Howard-McGuire

Second team -- Spencer Gordon

Honorable mention: Devyn Lewis and Ben Schroder

All-Academic -- Alex Evans and Spencer Gordon

June 6, 2010 City Places 2nd at State

This was City High's (13-8) first appearance in a championship game and after a shaky start the Little Hawks acquitted themselves very well.

City's slow start had a lot to do with its physical condition. The team was battered, bruised and exhausted after its first two games, and that's not a good situation when you have to play the most skilled and probably fastest team in the state.

"It's not easy when you are playing two top teams to make it here and still be fresh," City coach Jose Fajardo said. "You have to be fresh to play against (West). You cannot be hurt. Even fresh you are not guaranteed you are going to have success. And we are not fresh right now."

"We just weren't ready," City senior Spencer Gordon said. "Definitely the knocks kind of got us out of the game a little bit, but there's no excuse to start out that slow. We pretty much gave the game to them in the first half by letting them have the first goal because we were sloppy."

The first came on a through ball from Kit Weaver that City High players thought was an off side violation. One player raised his hand as if to signal the violation, but Schilling just ran after the ball and had a one-on-one opportunity against keeper Duncan Howard-McGuire. City's keeper charged out hoping to cut off the angle, but Schilling danced around and scored in the 15th minute.

"That first goal was really important," Schilling said. "I mean, they were here to play. They wanted it just as bad as we did. I really felt getting that first goal really gave us the momentum."

Schilling added a second on a 30-yard rocket shot that eluded Howard-McGuire into the left side of the net.

"That might be one of the best hits I've had in a long time," Schilling said.

That gave West a 2-0 lead with about 10 minutes left in the half. The Trojans led in shots 13-1 when the game was suspended for 35 minutes with 3:08 left because a storm rumbled through.

The teams retreated to their buses to talk about matters.

"It was a good thing we had a little bit of time off in the bus where we can put it in perspective," Fajardo said. "And understand what we can do and what we have done against other teams."

That lead held at halftime. But City came back with renewed purpose and picked up the pace. The Little Hawks got within 2-1 after a penalty was called in the box, and J.D. McCullough converted the kick with 14 minutes, 20 seconds left to play.

"I think we scared them in the second half, and we could have tied the game," Fajardo said.

"It just shows what kind of team we are to come back and score against a team like that," Howard-McGuire said.

But the Little Hawks just couldn't get the equalizer before Brown's long looping free kick from his own side of the field bounced over Howard-McGuire and went in for the third goal with two minutes to play.

"I just got lucky with a good bounce," Brown said, sheepishly. "I connected well."

Brown ran all the way down the field to hug Schilling.

"I had to turn around and laugh," Schilling said of the unlikely score. "At practice he likes to turn around and kick it as far as he can sometimes. It's kind of his staple. He can put a ball on a dime for 60 yards."

City's march to the final game with a relatively young team was a milestone and perhaps the beginning of the rise of its boys soccer program.

"It's amazing; I loved playing with this team this year," Gordon said. "We've come so far. It was a great run. The first City High team ever to make it to the finals, I mean, it's great to be part of that."

"To fight and get through the No. 2 and No. 3 teams and get to this point and be the best team City High has ever had, I really couldn't ask for more this year," Howard-McGuire said. "I owe a lot to (assistant coach) Michael Smith and to that team my freshman year."

"It's unbelievable what we've done from the beginning of the year," Fajardo said. "For the first time in a while we saw and we felt that we were capable of playing with anybody."

Everyone take a bow.

June 5, 2010  Little Hawks outshoot Valley in penalty kicks

DES MOINES -- City High's Duncan Howard-McGuire took a look at the way Valley's Kevin Sheldon approached the ball on the eighth penalty kick of the teams' state semifinal shootout. The Little Hawk goalie thought he read something in Sheldon's hips.

Kick, dive, contact. Celebration. BIG celebration.

Howard-McGuire's save on the third extra PK of the shootout gave City the 1-0 (6-5PK) victory and its first trip to the state championship game, where it will play arch-rival West High.

"I just walked up there on the last one, and compared to all the other ones, I just got it in my head that if I save this, we're going to the final game," Howard-McGuire said. "I've played here since my freshman year, and I never could have believed we could be here my senior year. It's special."

"I'm speechless," said Jose Fajardo, the usually talkative City High coach.

City had to win a shootout at No. 5 Bettendorf just to reach the state tournament. The Little Hawks upset second-ranked Ankeny 2-1 in the quarterfinal and then took the measure of third-ranked Valley.

Valley's goalkeeper saved two shots out of the first three attempts by the Little Hawks, but Tyler Chavez made the fourth shot, and Valley's Elmer Mendez-Sanchez missed his to even it up going to the fifth shooter.

City's Devyn Lewis, Ben Schroder and Taylor McBurney all scored in the sudden-death situation, but Valley matched them score for score. Sophomore defender Jason Tiemeyer came up for City, the eighth man to take a kick.

"Your nerves are going because it's sudden death," Tiemeyer said. "If you miss, you can lose the game; you can lose it all. We do PKs in practice. I normally go to the right, so I thought I'd just go to the right."

Tiemeyer's shot, his first in a shootout situation this year, went in, and the pressure returned to Valley's Sheldon.

"He hesitated a little bit before he took it," Howard-McGuire said. "I saw his hips turn out, and I knew he was going to my left so I just went there. It was the best feeling in the world. I stood up and I could hardly believe it, and I just heard everyone. The crowd exploded."

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"That is what we've done for the last two games," Fajardo continued. "We beat Ankeny; we beat West Des Moines Valley. This shows to these guys that we belong here. We didn't beat the No. 30 and the No. 36. We beat the No. 2 and the No. 3. We have gained the right to be where we are."
West High came from behind to beat City High 3-2 in the teams' only meeting this year.

"It's nice to have a shot at state," Fajardo said. "I don't care who it is. I just want the kids to be at state and in the final, and it doesn't matter that it's against West."

Maybe for Fajardo, but for the players it might be the antidote to a lot of tired legs and sore bodies to have a familiar rival on the other side.

"It'll get us a little more hyped up for the game for sure," McCullough said. "The state championship game should be enough to do that anyway. It'll just give us a little extra."

"For two Iowa City teams to be in the final, I just don't know what to say," a stunned Howard-McGuire said. "I know we're going to come out and play hard. We played them once earlier this season and we gave them probably the hardest game they played all season other than the game they just played."

"It'll be even more fun," Chavez said. "If we could beat our rivals in the state championship game, it would just be unbelievable. That would just make my life."

June 4, 2010 City Upsets No. 2 Ankeny

DES MOINES -- The Little Hawks continue to rattle the pillars of Class 3A soccer.

Thanks to tireless defense, a nifty pass from freshman Luke Mennen, and two goals from senior JD McCullough, City High upset No. 2 Ankeny 2-1 Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the 3A State Tournament.

"It's pretty big," McCullough said. "It shows us we belong at the top of the state. We competed with (No. 1) West High, and we beat this team.

"Our season starts at the end. It doesn't have to be pretty, but you have to win."

No. 11 City (12-7) earned its first trip to state in nine years by upsetting No. 5 Bettendorf in the substate final. It was the first time the Bulldogs were held out of state play since soccer became a sanctioned sport.

The Little Hawks topped that win Thursday by upsetting Ankeny (17-2), the high-powered No. 2 seed in the eight-team 3A field.

Ankeny looked the part of the favorite early, peppering the Little Hawk defense with a constant barrage of shots.

"They did have a lot of chances," City senior goalie Duncan Howard-McGuire said. "We were lucky a couple of those didn't go in."

Despite being outshot nearly 5 to 1, it was the Little Hawks who struck first. Junior Taylor McBurney found a seam in the Ankeny defense, and fired a shot that ricocheted off two Hawk defenders ... right to the foot of McCullough, who fired a winner past Ankeny goalie Luke Aronow with 4:13 to play before half.

"I think that's what made the difference," City coach Jose Fajardo said. "This team is not used to being behind. But that's where you find what kind of team you have in front of you.

"I feel like they changed to get more chances."

If possible, the Hawks became even more aggressive offensively in the second half and had nine corner kicks.

"They are a difficult team to play, they play so many long balls," Fajardo said. "Now I understand why they won so many games.

"They don't play a possession game. And that is very hard to 100 percent of the time be always right (on defense). You're going to make a mistake or two. The goal they scored was a mistake."

Ankeny finally got on the scoreboard with 9:10 left to play. On a cross into the middle, senior John Heffernan -- who came into the tournament with 22 goals, most in 3A -- drew Howard-McGuire out of goal. Heffernan then headed the ball to teammate Ermin Kremic, who headed it into the goal.

"It was really suspenseful," Mennen said. "It was like we were just waiting for them to even the game. The clock moved by really slow."

Suddenly, it seemed like City's run might be coming to an end.

"In the second half they were just peppering the goal for sure," McCullough said. "They were going for it every time. But that's what allowed us to score the second goal.

"They were all pushed forward the whole time, and we scored on a counter attack with only two people."

With less than five minutes left, Mennen got loose in the Hawk defense and made a run on the goal. Drawing both defenders to him, Mennen made the soccer equivalent of a behind-the-back pass over to McCullough, who drilled it into the net.

"I really wanted to take that shot," Mennen said. "But I saw JD open, so I flipped it to him."

"Unbelievable," Fajardo said of the pass. "It was unbelievable how mature he was on the ball, how clam to play that kind of ball in front of the goalkeeper with a defender on him."

The Little Hawks didn't have time to celebrate, as Ankeny kept up its attack. With 2:25 to play, it seemed that the Hawks tied the game up on a corner kick from Marcus Varum that Matt Loney bodied into the goal, but he was ruled offsides.

"I just couldn't believe we lost the lead," McCullough said. "They dominated us on balls in the air in the box, but they couldn't put them away, and we had some good stops.

"We got a little lucky, but that's what it takes."

City was able to run out the clock, defending another corner kick and few desperation tries by Ankeny.

"We were extremely nervous," Fajardo said. "We were looking up at the clock. It felt like the second part of the movie against West High, seeing the same movie, more like a nightmare, and thinking it's going to happen to us again."

City advances to the 3A semifinals at 5p.m. today against No. 3 West Des Moines Valley (17-3), who beat Cedar Rapids Washington 1-0 on Thursday. Ankeny's only loss prior to Thursday was a double-overtime shootout to Valley.

City has now won seven straight games since a 1-0 loss to No. 8 Cedar Rapids Kennedy. The Cougars take on No. 1 West High in the other 3A semifinal.

"This win means a lot to me," Howard-McGuire said. "We've always had a solid program, but to gut out a win like that and advance means a lot."

June 3, 2010 City Boys Soccer Team Finding it's Stride

The game that most symbolized City High's transformation this season was not its landmark victory over Bettendorf in the substate final, even though it ended the Bulldogs' state-record 15-year string of consecutive state tournament appearances.

Rather, City High's boys soccer team demonstrated it had come of age in an earlier loss to top-ranked rival West High, a game in which the Little Hawks scored two goals (the most West has given up in any one game) and held the lead for 25 minutes of the second half.

While the score and circumstances were impressive enough, it was the way that City played the game that showed this year was different. This year the two teams went back and forth in non-stop action attacking the other at every opportunity. No longer did City feel compelled to play a conservative, defensive game in which it packed in the defense and hoped to win by dragging it out over two overtimes to a shootout.

"People were telling us we were a defensive team, but the truth is that we had to do what we had to do to survive," City High coach Jose Fajardo said. "This year we had to change that mentality because I think we have what it takes to start defending teams on their half and not on our half."

The Little Hawks (11-7) have reached the state tournament for the first time in nine years and have won six games in a row heading into today's state quarterfinal match with No. 2 Ankeny (17-1). The reasons for the resurgence are many.

• More club players who play year-round, meaning more players with better technical skill and knowledge of the game. That not only means more skill on the field but also more advanced practice situations.

• Key leadership from the three captains.

• A more dangerous attack that creates more chances and the confidence to execute it.

• Better internal team chemistry and communication with coaches.

• The desire to work hard in practice and improve.

The first step was the change from a conservative, back-it-in mentality, to an open, creative, attacking mindset.The game that most symbolized City High's transformation this season was not its landmark victory over Bettendorf in the substate final, even though it ended the Bulldogs' state-record 15-year string of consecutive state tournament appearances.  Rather, City High's boys soccer team demonstrated it had come of age in an earlier loss to top-ranked rival West High, a game in which the Little Hawks scored two goals (the most West has given up in any one game) and held the lead for 25 minutes of the second half."From the get-go we started to attack teams and really wanted to press them instead of sitting back," senior Spencer Gordon said. "It worked out from the first tournament we played at Muscatine."
"For us, we've been here four years and we've never won a game in that tournament," senior Duncan Howard-McGuire said. "For our team to come out and score four goals (against Roosevelt) was something I don't think either of us have seen at City High. That kind of gives you confidence for the rest of the season."

The team's three captains -- Howard-McGuire, Gordon and junior J.D. McCullough -- helped immeasurably with that transformation.

Fajardo, who coached the three when they were younger in club, loves the combination the three bring in terms of personality. McCullough is a vocal playmaker, while Gordon is like a cheerleader on the field, encouraging his teammates throughout all 80 minutes. Howard-McGuire, the goalie, is the enforcer, the parent you don't want to face when you've broken house rules.

The influx of club players still is not at the level that West enjoys, but it's a big improvement and provides more depth, among other advantages.

"It makes it easier to fill positions with people who know what they are doing," Gordon said.

Against Linn-Mar, Gordon was ejected after receiving a red card, but that opened up an opportunity for junior Devyn Lewis to take over as the center back. Lewis was so proficient that in later games, Gordon was moved up into the attack. It's made a big difference at practices, too.

"You start coaching them more like men instead of coaching them like kids," Fajardo said. And where that matters most is against good teams. "When the other team is competitive is when you see who is prepared tactically, who has more knowledge of the game," Fajardo said.

Fajardo is not a stats guy. He believes every game is different, and that it's not necessarily illuminating to look at the difference between statistics of the past few years and this year.

"But the truth is that this year we have created more chances against any team that we have played than ever before," Fajardo said.
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Players believe in what the coaches want to do, and they are able to execute the plan.
"We have a lot of faith in our offense this year," Howard-McGuire said. "J.D. and Tyler (Chavez) and Taylor (McBurney), we know are dangerous because we have a lot more speed and skill than we've had in past years."

"We actually have the personnel this year to keep the ball and actually have an attacking threat," Gordon said.

Fajardo also has shown growth as a coach. He understands the mentality of a soccer player having been a professional player himself from the age of 17. He believes in hard work, but his players have come to know and expect that of him. But he better understands the psychology of this age group.

"This year he's left a lot more stuff up to us," Howard-McGuire said. "He gives us a little more freedom this year as a team in general. He wants to let us figure it out because he knows we can."

Before the West High game, the coach suggested to his team that they might get a couple days off afterward because he expected them to be running all game long. After the game, Fajardo said he'd see the team the next day at the regular time when one wag asked about getting those two days off.

"He was joking, he was not serious, but two or three guys, I remember Duncan saying, 'I don't want a day off,'" Fajardo said. "I thought, 'That is great because it's such a motivation for me to get back and help them be the best they can be.'"

Players believe that the team has created some momentum that will be sustained by the influx of younger talented players. City has only four seniors on its roster, three of whom start, albeit all four are key contributors.

"This group of guys is a pretty good group of guys," Howard-McGuire said. "There's a lot of potential."

Don't underestimate the value of team chemistry when it comes to turning around a program that seemed stuck.

"This is a really great group this year not only of soccer players but also of great people," Fajardo said. "Everything we have at practice is competition. We are not jealous of each other. We feel there is nowhere else we want to be when we are training."

May 30, 2010 Press Citizen    City wins bid to state in signature fashion

BETTENDORF -- Graduation almost had to wait for the four seniors on the City High boys soccer roster. Eighty minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtimes in the substate final put the Little Hawks perilously close to missing one of the signature days of their young lives Saturday afternoon.

But when the fifth Bettendorf penalty kick went wide left, the Little Hawks had a precious 2-1 double overtime shootout (4-3 PK) victory over the fifth-ranked Bulldogs and another signature moment to savor.

"This is awesome," senior defender Alex Evans said. "This is like the best way to end a soccer career going to state when you haven't in so long."

Two long streaks ended in dramatic fashion with City's victory. The Little Hawks hadn't qualified for the soccer tournament since placing third in 2001. The Bulldogs had never failed to qualify for the tournament, having made 15 consecutive appearances with three state championships.

"It feels really good knocking off Bettendorf, too," junior forward J.D. McCullough said. "They've gone to state every year since state's been around, and it's about time we went."

City (11-7) will play No. 2 Ankeny (17-1) at 5 p.m. Thursday in the state quarterfinal at the Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines. City is seeded seventh among the eight class 3A teams. This is City's fifth appearance in the state meet.

The game was scoreless for what seemed like forever and the tension mounted at the same time the sun and high-80-degree heat took its toll. Finally Bettendorf scored after City wasn't able to clear away a free kick. Eric Wells got the ball on the left side and crossed right in front of the goal where Matt Bettenhausen kicked it in.

Bettendorf took the lead with only 12 minutes, 8 seconds left. But this is really where City won the game. The Little Hawks didn't wilt in the unrelenting heat but became much more aggressive.

"I think a lot of us got more into the game once that happened," Evans said. "It was kind of a kick in the butt to get going."   "We had been creating chances before that so we knew we could put something away," McCullough said.

Two minutes later, Ellis Jordan and McCullough played pinball right in front of the Bulldog goal, but keeper Tyler Cowherd scrambled and gained possession. Instead of discouraging the Little Hawks, the near miss led to another run, and McCullough was fouled by Jordan Sawyer in the box.

"He jumped on my back basically," McCullough said.  Sawyer looked distraught, knowing the foul would give City a penalty kick.

"I was comfortable; I knew where I was going," McCullough said. "I have a spot I usually go to. And I knew I had to make up for a couple shots I missed earlier. Me and Ellis had some wide-open shots there."

McCullough calmly drilled a low shot into the corner to tie the game with just 8:28 left in regulation.

Bettendorf out-shot City 6-0 in the two overtimes but could not find the net. Both teams were exhausted and drained as they lined up for the penalty kicks.

"I've never been in a PK shootout of that magnitude before as a goalkeeper," City senior goalie Duncan Howard-McGuire said. "After I made that save down there (in overtime) my adrenaline was just, I couldn't think of anything else. I hardly remember it."

City had the advantage of going first, and McCullough scored while Bettendorf's Wells missed high. Then City got another break. Tyler Chavez's shot was stopped, but officials ruled that Cowherd left the back line and awarded Chavez a second shot. Chavez scored this time.

Senior Spencer Gordon also scored for City, but the shootout was tied 3-3 going to the fifth kicker. City junior Devyn Lewis stepped to the ball.

"I'm obviously nervous, but I had made up my mind what I was going to do and went for it," Lewis said.

He fired a shot to the right and scored. When Bettendorf's Gage Ridenour missed wide left, the City High celebration was on. At least for the underclassmen. The four seniors hustled out of there with a less than an hour and a half to get from Bettendorf to a shower to graduation.

Fajardo has City practice penalty kicks nearly every day.

"We make it fun; everyone had a country," he said. "I'm from Spain, but everyone else has a very strange country like Vietnam. We make it fun so that when this time comes we don't make a huge deal out of it and so we don't freeze."

City weathered a first half in which it didn't play particularly well. Bettendorf had eight corner kicks to none for City, and Bettendorf out-shot City 7-4. Howard-McGuire was magnificent and made several outstanding plays to save goals.

"He's unbelievable," Fajardo said. "He keeps you in games over and over.

"We froze a little bit in the first half. We were not able to maintain possession. We played their game, which helped them. But it's 80 minutes plus, and you cannot quit until the game is over."

May 27, 2010 Press Citizen

CITY ROLLS PAST NORTH SCOTT

They chose their words carefully. They know they are on the brink of something their team hasn't accomplished in nine years. But there was no disguising the fact that the City High boys soccer team dominated play from the beginning of its substate semifinal game against North Scott and went on to a relatively easy 4-0 victory at the Iowa soccer complex.

No. 11-ranked City (10-7) plays at No. 5-ranked Bettendorf (16-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday for the right to go to the state tournament. City High's last state tournament trip was in 2001.

"We came into the game really prepared," City junior midfielder Taylor McBurney said. "(Coach) Jose (Fajardo) has taken really good care of us over the season. We've got a very good team this year. I'd say this is probably the best chance we've had to make it to state since I've been here for the past three years."

City was faster, more aggressive, better technically, possessed the ball for longer periods of time and was much better on the back line. The result was a 12-3 difference in shots on goal in the first half.

"We really are determined this year to make it to state," Fajardo said. "We believe we have what it takes. We knew they would come strong at the beginning of the game, and we were ready for it and let those 10, 15 minutes go off and started attacking."

J.D. McCullough scored the first goal with 23 minutes, 32 seconds left. Tyler Chavez sent a long ball to the right side to Taylor McBurney, who dribbled into the middle and fed the ball to McCullough for a one-on-one chance against the goalie.

McBurney added a second goal when he found himself open before the keeper with 12:21 left. As the keeper advanced, McBurney softly chipped the ball over his head and into the net.

"I think he probably came out a little too early, and that left the left side of the goal open," McBurney said.

City's keeper, Duncan Howard-McGuire, made a great save on a run by the Lancers' quick little forward, Dylan Michel, about 13 minutes into the half. Ben Schroder made a great recovery later in the half to foil another run by Michel.

The Little Hawks came out aggressively and added two goals, by Chavez and McCullough, in the first 4:02 of the second half. The game ended abruptly with 32:27 left when a Lancer player was assessed a red card after fouling McCullough on yet another run out.

It was the fourth red card of the season for North Scott and by Iowa rules that eliminated the Lancers from postseason play.

May 19, 2010 Press Citizen

• CITY HIGH 6, WATERLOO EAST 0: Taylor McBurney had three goals to lead the 11th-ranked Little Hawks in their regular-season finale in Iowa City.

Zach Mennen and Spencer Gordon each scored one goal, and Aaron McDonough, Ike Eyman, Tyler Chavez and Gordon had assists.

"The guys did a great job staying healthy and keeping things simple on Seniors Night," City coach Jose Fajardo said. "Good way to end the regular season. Now looking forward to making it to state."

May 14, 2010 Press Citizen    Little Hawks shut out C.R. Jefferson

J.D. McCullough had two goals for the Little Hawks, Tyler Chavez also scored, Taylor McBurney had two assists, and Spencer Gordon had one assist.

"It was a good game," City coach Jose Fajardo said. "It was tough to play. The field was really wet, but we kept them away from our goal."

Freshman Fernando Pacheco, who suffered a hip injury in Tuesday's match, is likely lost for the remainder of the season, Fajardo said.

City High fresh soph Little Hawks finished their season with a 2-0 loss to Cedar Rapids Jefferson.  Christian Pinnell played well in goal.   Michael Henkhaus, Ricardo Martinez, Misael Martinez, and Niall Oliver were cited  for strong play on the field.

May 12, 2010 Press Citizen

J.D. McCullough had four goals and one assist to lead the City High boys soccer team to a 5-1 win over Class 2A No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier on Tuesday in Iowa City.  City is ranked 11th in Class 3A.

Spencer Gordon also scored a goal, freshman Fernando Pacheco had two assists, and Tyler Chavez had one assist.

Pacheco was injured with 30 seconds remaining in the first half when he landed bad on his hip going for a ball and had to be taken to the hospital.  "Hopefully, it'll be just a little thing," City coach Jose Fajardo said. "He's getting X-rays right now." 

City is 7-7-0.

The Little Hawks Fresh Soph boys team played very well against Xavier despite a 3-2 loss.  Jeff Campbell scored an unassisted goal from far out early in the second half to make the score 2-1.  Pedro Aguilar-Rosales scored the second goal off of an assist from Grant Lewis.  Anthony Rosazza, Ethan Glenn, Nate Nelson, Chandler Cone, Misael Martinez, Ben Holzhammer, Niall Oliver, Anthony Duarte, and Jacob Ferguson added strong play on the field.  Tristan Spears and Christian Pinnell were excellent in goal.

May 7, 2010 Press Citizen

• CITY HIGH 4, CEDAR FALLS 2: The 12th-ranked Little Hawks came back from a 2-1 halftime deficit to beat the 10th-ranked Tigers in Cedar Falls.

"I think they had three chances in the whole game and they put two away," City coach Jose Fajardo said of the first half. "We made some adjustments in the second half."

Fernando Pacheco scored in the final minute of the first half for the Little Hawks. J.D. McCullough scored two goals in the second half, and Spencer Gordon also scored.  Fajardo also praised the reserves who entered the match late, but played well.  City is 6-7.

The Little Hawks Fresh Soph boys' soccer team lost 2-0 to Cedar Valley on Thursday, May 6th.  Tristan Spears and Christian Pinnell split time in goal.  Jeffrey Campbell, Ricardo Martinez, Anthony Duarte, and Misael Martinez played particularly well throughout the game.

May 3, 2010 Press Citizen  

City High's boys soccer team created a lot of chances for itself but couldn't capitalize on them, falling to Cedar Rapids Linn-Mar and No. 3 Cedar Rapids Kennedy. The 11th ranked Little Hawks (5-7) lost to Linn-Mar 3-2 in a shootout. City got goals from Fernando Pacheco and JD McCullough. Spencer Gordon pitched in with an assist. "It was kind of like everything that could go wrong, did," coach Jose Fajardo said.

City at one point was up 2-0 and later had three chances in front of the goal, two of them with no goalkeeper. "We had way too many chances," Fajardo said. "We basically gave the game away."

The Little Hawks later lost 1-0 to Kennedy, again not taking advantage of opportunities, including a missed penalty kick and hitting the bar three times. "We created a lot of chances, that was the tough thing." Fajardo said. "That is something we can improve on in the future."

May 2, 2010 Press Citizen (Fresh-Soph)   The Little Hawks Fresh Soph boys soccer team went 1-1 on Saturday, defeating Linn-Mar 1-0 before falling 3-2 to Kennedy.   Goalkeeper Tristan Spears had many excellent saves against  Linn-Mar.  Niall Oliver scored the lone goal, assisted by Grant  Lewis.  Misael Martinez, Brandon Pledge, Chandler Cone, Jeff Campbell,  Anthony Rosazza, and Ben Holzhammer were instrumental in  preserving the shut out.   The Little Hawks played tough in their game against Kennedy.  Jacob  Ferguson and Oliver scored the goals, both assisted by Lewis.  Pedro  Aguilar-Rosales, Ethan Glenn, Christian Cabrera, Coale Cooper, Ike Eyman-Casey,  and Jason Tiemeyer added strong play on the field.  Spears and Christian  Pinnell shared time in goal.  The Little Hawks Fresh Soph boys are 3-3-3 for the season.

April 28, 2010 Press Citizen    Trojans come back, beat Little Hawks 3-2

The City High boys soccer team did two things that no other team has been able to do to unbeaten and top-ranked West High: scored two goals and led the game for 25 minutes of the second half.

But it wasn't enough as the Trojans drew on their pedigree as the state's top team and rallied with a spectacular tying goal from Joe Ryken and won 3-2 on a goal 2½ minutes later from Ahmed Hassan.

"It was weird," Ryken said. "I don't think we've been down a goal. We haven't been scored on twice in a game."

West is 11-0, and City is 5-5.

"I tell myself we've been doing the right things to have luck on our side," West coach Brad Stiles said. "We're going to have to reload on the luck because I think we got a little lucky tonight."

Senior reserve Abdoul Daoud scored West's first goal with 10:30 left in the first half. Will Hirsch powered a shot toward the goal that was blocked by keeper Duncan Howard-McGuire, but Daoud was right in front to boot the ball into the goal.

That's the way the game stood at halftime.

"We've been talking the whole week that we had to believe we can beat this team," City High coach Jose Fajardo said. "I think we have the potential and we have the heart and we have the discipline and we have the kind of guys who are capable of doing something like that. We may not be the most talented team in the world; we know that. But we have everything else. That sometimes is better than having some technical players."

Less than a minute into the second half, City's Tyler Chavez had the equalizer from 25 yards out.

"We had so much time left that I thought we could come back and win it," Chavez said.

Chavez, who late in the first half had to be taken out of the game with a leg injury, then took advantage of a defensive lapse by West on a run-out and scored the go-ahead goal with 34:40 left. Ryken admitted he fell down on the play and Stiles thought his back line was slow reacting to Ryken's misfortune.

Chavez was also a little slow to realize what he had done and the position he had placed his team.  It was just crazy realizing that we might beat the No. 1 team in the state," Chavez said. "Because at first before the game I thought we were going to get destroyed by them. When we took the lead it came to me that we could win it."

"The second one goes in and we're like 'whoa,' what's going on?" Ryken said.

"This is the biggest crowd we'll play in front of and just the adrenaline of the crowd and the rivalry game is true to the word," Stiles said.

Howard-McGuire was terrific in goal for the Little Hawks or the game would never have come down to the nail-biting final 10 minutes. He blocked shot after shot from West's attackers with leaps and dives and smothered other low shots.

"He kept us in the game a few times," Fajardo said.

Those final 30 minutes lasted a lifetime for City's coach and players.

"I hoped we could keep possession of the ball and hopefully make the time go a little faster," Chavez said. "It seemed like time was taking so long. And (West) kept possession of the ball really well at the end."

"It is hard for us because in that moment you want to make the game slower," Fajardo said. "We didn't have the ability to do it, but still we kept it 2-1 for a long time."

Ryken said he and a few other players got together and urged their teammates to stay calm and focused. He had to leave the game for a while because of cramps but got stretched out in time to come back in and make a huge difference.

The Little Hawks kept the Trojans away from the goal from the 34:40 mark until Ryken's tying shot with 9:34 left. The momentum had begun to build for City along with the very real possibility of an upset.

"I wanted to make something happen, and I guess I did," Ryken said. "It came off a header, like someone served it in and they headed it out. I saw it dropping right toward me and I said 'I'm going to smash this.'"

The ball bounced a couple feet in the air about 30 yards out, and Ryken hit it on the upswing. The ball crashed into the crossbar and down into the net.

"The shot was just unbelievable," Fajardo said. "He hit it perfectly. It's one of those you hit 10 times and nine you send it to the school and one...that happens."

"We had the momentum," Ryken said. "Our crowd was yelling and they were great. Once we scored we weren't stopping."

The Trojans won on a goal by Hassan with 6:59 left to play. Will Hirsch drove up the right side and shot. Duncan-McGuire was able to block it, but Hassan was front and center to kick it home.

April 26, 2010 Press Citizen

City High Boys Soccer Win Two at Home

No. 12 City High took a pair of games Saturday, topping Dubuque Senior 6-1 and beating Dubuque Hempstead 3-1 in Iowa City. "Today we put the chances we had away," City coach Jose Fajardo said. "Last week we controlled the game but weren't able to finish, and today we did." In the first game, JD McCullough had a pair of goals, and Zach Mennen, Tyler Chavez, James Henkhaus, and Aaron McDonough each converted once.  McDonough, Spencer Gordon and Devyn Lewis each had assists.  In the second game, Lewis, Chavez and Jason Tiemeyer scored the goals, and Luke Mennen had the lone assist for City (6-3, 4-2 MVC).

The City High Fresh-Soph Boys' soccer team split their double header at Shrader Field on Saturday, falling to Dubuque Senior 1-0 before rebounding to defeat Dubuque Hempsted 6-0.  Christian Pinnell, Tristan Spears, and Chris Evans were excellent in goal.  Pedro Aguilar-Rosales, Christian Cabrera, Jacob Ferguson, and Jeff Campbell had one goal each, and Grant Lewis scored two.  Chandler Cone, Giovanni Duarte, Ferguson, Lewis, and Campbell had assists.  Also playing well were Misael Martinez, Michael Henkhaus, Anthony Duarte, Coale Cooper, Edward Orellana, Anthony Rosazza, Ben Holzhammer, and Ethan Glenn.

April 21, 2010 Press Citizen

DUBUQUE WAHLERT 2, CITY HIGH 0: The Little Hawks gave up two second-half goals and lost in Iowa City. "It was a very even game, we had a ton of chances," City coach Jose Fajardo said. "We played against a team that was pretty big and physical. We didn't handle the physicality very well." Fajardo praised the midfield and forward play of Tyler Chavez.

The City High Fresh-Soph boys' soccer team tied Dubuque Wahlert 1-1 at Schrader Field on Tuesday, April 20.  Ben Holzhammer scored the lone goal off of a free kick by Grant Lewis.  Tristan Spears and Chris Evans shared time in goal and had many saves.  Christian Cabrera, Anthony Rosazza, Ethan Glenn, and Jeff Campbell played exceptionally well on the field.

April 16, 2010 Press Citizen

City High's boys' soccer team spent Thursday's match with Cedar Rapids Washington waiting for the law of averages to catch up with the action on the field. It never did.

Even though the Little Hawks had many more chances to score, the ninth-ranked Warriors got back on the bus with a 2-1 victory that they desperately needed.

Washington improved to 5-2 and got its first conference victory in three tries. Its two losses came in its last two games to top-ranked West High and sixth-ranked Cedar Falls.

No. 13 City High lost its first MVC game, falling to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play. City coach Jose Fajardo had nothing but praise for the way his team competed.

"They worked hard; they ran more than the other team; they were better technically and tactically than the other team," he said. "We had 12 more chances than the other team and did not put them away. I am so proud of them, but I am so frustrated at the same time."

This was an important match for City High just like it was for Washington. It was a chance to beat a higher-ranked team and gain some respect around the state that has been a long time coming.

"It's not like they want to miss those chances. It happens; it's part of the game," Fajardo said. "We just need to learn, get mature and don't let it happen again."

The deciding goal came off the foot of Jordan Brown, who was playing in his first game after having been sidelined by a knee injury. With about 12 minutes left in regulation Brown was at the top of the box and booted it by City goalkeeper Duncan Howard-McGuire.

"He's a real athletic kid, and you can see he has breakaway speed and can put a lot of pressure on backs," Washington coach J.P. Graham said. "He brought it off his chest and turned. He was in a precarious position because the defense was out of position, and so the keeper had to come out. He kept it low. We told the kids before the game to keep it low when there's a big keeper like that, and both of our goals tucked away nice and low."

Washington took an early 1-0 lead in the first half when forward Brandon Besong took possession at midfield and raced away from the defenders to create a one-on-one opportunity against the keeper. Besong put the ball away in the ninth minute.

"There was a scramble and James (Henkhaus) tried to play the ball and it hit off one of our other players and went right back to (Besong)," City midfielder J.D. McCullough said. "But then he did beat our last defender."
Graham said he was thankful his team had a lead after a first half in which City peppered the Warrior goal.

"Their strength is their height, and they play a lot of long ball," Graham said. "The field is shorter than most and they can really create a lot of opportunities just with the goalkeeper punting it. The goalkeeper punts it and it's down here in the 18.

"It makes it really dangerous because both their forwards and a couple of their midfielders are 6-foot, 6-foot-2. They're always dangerous. I knew they'd get some opportunities, but part of that was our fault because we were fouling them out here 20 to 40 yards out, and that's exactly what they want."

City's chances in the first half came off free kicks and scrums in the box and everything in between, but none found the net. Spencer Gordon's free kick from near midfield hit the cross bar. The Washington goalie barely tipped a looping shot from Ben Schroder up and out of bounds. There were many others.

"We weren't calm in front of the goal," Gordon said. "We didn't put our chances away. We pretty much put everything toward their keeper, who was what, 5-9?

"We've had that problem all year, and it really shows up against good teams," McCullough said.

City finally tied the game on a free kick by McCullough 18 minutes into the second half. Gordon had taken the free kicks up to that point but deferred to his teammate this time as they both hovered around the ball.

"(Gordon) kicked the first one and hit the wall; I knew I wanted the second one after that," McCullough said.

"You try and put it over the wall because the keeper is betting on the wall stopping the free kick, and if the wall doesn't stop the free kick then he's too far over to get to that far post."

McCullough, booted the ball with his left (dominant) foot and it cleared the wall of four Warriors and curved beautifully into the net from about 10 yards off the top of the box and to the right.

After tying the game the Little Hawks thought the game would be theirs.

"We pushed on and we pretty much dominated the other team, but they had that one lucky chance and they put it away," Gordon said. "They had like three or four chances and they put two of them away. We had like 15 and we put one away."

April 14, 2010 Press Citizen

• CITY HIGH 4, C.R. PRAIRIE 0: The Little Hawks had second-half goals from Zach Mennen, Spencer Gordon, Tyler Chavez and Ellis Jordan in a win in Cedar Rapids.  Devyn Lewis had two assists and Aaron McDonough had one.

"It was pretty good to see that the guys are working extremely well defensively," City coach Jose Fajardo said.  "We came out strong in the second half."

Duncan Howard-McGuire earned the shutout in goal.  City is 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the MVC.

Apr 9, 2010 Press Citizen

• CITY HIGH 2, WATERLOO WEST 0:   Zach Mennen scored both of City High's goals to start conference play with a win in Waterloo. Luke Mennen assisted his brother with the second goal.

"The guys played unbelievable defensively," City coach Jose Fajardo said. "It was a great win to start the year."   The Little Hawks are 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the MVC.

Apr 5, 2010 Press Citizen

• Coach: Jose Fajardo (5th season).

Last year's record: 10-9.

• Returning lettermen (15): Will Benson, jr.; Tyler Chavez, so.; Alex Evans, sr.; Spencer Gordon, sr.; James Henkhaus, jr.; Duncan Howard-McGuire, sr.; Ellis Jordan, sr.; Devyn Lewis, jr.; Taylor McBurney, jr.; JD McCullough, jr.; Aaron McDonough, so.; Zach Mennen, jr.; Nate Nelson, so.; Dylan Quint, jr.; Ben Schroder, jr.

• Outlook: The bulk of the Little Hawks' 2009 squad is back for this spring and plan to continue the progress they made as young players last year. Spencer Gordon was a first-team defender in the Mississippi Valley Conference for City. Duncan Howard-McGuire and JD McCullough made the second team. Alex Evans and Tyler Chavez were honorable mentions.

"If we can figure things out quickly, stay healthy and believe that we can beat anyone, we will be a successful team this year," coach Jose Fajardo said. "Believing in ourselves and not being happy with being mediocre is our biggest task. The best teams last year only defeated us by one goal, so we need to learn how to play to win and materialize the many chances we have."

Apr 5, 2010 Press Citizen

City High went 1-2 at the Muscatine tournament Saturday, beating Des Moines Roosevelt 4-2, losing to Dowling 3-0 and losing to Valley 3-1.

Zach Mennen had two goals and an assist against Roosevelt, Taylor McBurney and JD McCullough scored one goal each, and Tyler Chavez had two assists.

Mennen also scored the one goal against Valley, with an assist by McCullough.

"For the competition we played, and with it the beginning of the year, we played very well," City coach Jose Fajardo said.

Apr 3, 2010 Press Citizen

City High 2, Mount Vernon 0: The Little Hawks opened the season with a 2-0 jamboree win over Mount Vernon on Thursday at Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapids.

Tyler Chavez and Ellis Jordan scored goals with Ike Casey assisting.

'I was happily surprised with how we did today,' City coach Jose Fajardo said. 'Even the referee said we looked good today. It's important for us to look good at the beginning of the year.'