Jefferson Boys Soccer

No. 10 Cedar Falls trips No. 12 J-Hawks

No. 10 Cedar Falls ran off three straight goals and handed Jefferson a 3-2 loss Tuesday in boys soccer at lower Kingston.

Jefferson ranked 12th in Class 3A, lost for the third time in its last four games, all to ranked opponents.

The J-Hawks (5-5, 3-4 MVC) took a 1-0 lead on Reece Suckow's goal off a pass from Levi Jellison.

Jefferson surrendered three straight goals to fall behind 3-1.

Hussin Al-Yassiri's goal with 8 minutes left, off an assist by Blake Fortner, pulled the J-Hawks within 3-2.

No. 12 J-Hawk kickers split matches

WATERLOO - The Cedar Rapids Jefferson boys soccer team split a pair of Mississippi Valley Conference matches on Saturday.

The 12th-ranked J-Hawks lost to No. 13 Waterloo West, 3-0, at the Sloane Wallace field Saturday morning. Waterloo West scored on a two free kicks in the first half and Jefferson missed its chances, including a missed penalty kick in the second half.

The J-Hawks rebounded with a 10-1 victory over Waterloo East at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex Saturday afternoon. Andrew Patience, Levi Jellison, Fabian Huck, Eric Jones, Ian Karr, Joseph Petersen, Hussin Al-Yassiri, Austin Schumacher, Peter Watson and Mitchell Khader scored one goal apiece.

J-Hawks' impressive streak ends in loss

The Cedar Rapids Jefferson boys soccer team had been very impressive in the last couple games.

The J-Hawks battled yet another highly ranked opponent, the third top six ranked foe in as many games, but came out on the wrong end this time.

Class 3A top-ranked Iowa City West edged the No. 16 J-Hawks, 1-0,Tuesday afternoon at lower Kingston.

“To be honest, we lost to a better team at this point in the season,” Jefferson Coach John O’Connor said. “(The) good news for us is ours boys work hard. I would love to meet them again at the end of the season and have another shot at it.”

No loss is fun and no loss is a good loss, but if anything came out of the J-Hawks loss it is that they believe they can play with anyone in the state.

“If that is a true No. 1 ranking (for Iowa City West), which I feel is deserved, then I feel pretty good about it,” O’Connor said on competing with the top teams in the state. “I feel we can play with anybody.”

“I just feel if that was No. 1 ranked team then we have a really bright season in front of us,” Jefferson senior Stefan Krohn added. “When it came down to it they beat us but we had our moments. In the end if we would have put those (scoring opportunities) away it could have put us even or ahead on the scoreboard.”

Jefferson also received the good news that sophomore Hussin Al-Yasseri was cleared to play. Hussin was injured in last Tuesday’s game at Kennedy (a 2-1 Jefferson win) and did not play in Jefferson’s game last Thursday at Xavier (a 1-0 win).

“Yesterday he didn’t practice and was still on crutches,” O’Connor said. “He came in today and said he was fine. Our trainer texted me right before the game and said she put him through multiple tests and he passed every one with flying colors.

“He had an MRI scheduled for tomorrow but the way he played tonight we are feeling pretty good that it was just a really bad bruise on his knee,” O’Connor added. “At this point he looks like he is ready to go.”

Iowa City West (6-1, 3-1) controlled the possession in the first half and looked like the far better team with plenty of chances on goal.  J-Hawk keeper Andrew Patience and the Jefferson defense held strong against the consistent Trojan attacks to keep the game all square at 0-0 going into halftime.

“He has saved our butts multiple times this season and continues to do so,” O’Connor said of Patience. “That should give our defense some comfort that he is back there. We went from a flat back four last year to playing with a sweeper, stopper and they are not all together comfortable.

“We played this team the same way we played the last two. We gave the first half away,” O’Connor said. “Somehow we found our way to a 0-0 halftime score.”

The J-Hawk conditioning showed again as Jefferson (4-3, 2-2) was able to put some pressure on in the second half and looked a step quicker than their counterpart.

“We came out in the second half and played a little bit better,” O'Connor said. "In the second half we have a tendency to be a little bit fast. We were a little bit quicker than they were.”

Despite the efforts, a string of little mistakes cost the J-Hawks greatly as Iowa City West’s Mueng Sunday was able to slip a ball past Patience for what turned out to be the decisive goal.

“It started with a bad pass in the midfield then we stabbed at it and he went by us. Our two defenders didn’t communicate and neither one stepped to him,” O’Connor said. “Patience tried to guess on it and (Sunday) went the other way. Can’t blame Andrew Patience, he does a good job but that time he couldn’t make up the ground quick enough.”

Jefferson got some opportunities in the final 20 minutes of play but was unable to score as West hung tough to escape with the win.

Jefferson goes to Waterloo on Saturday for games with both Waterloo East and Waterloo West.

After two game-winning goals last week, Jefferson senior forward Eric Jones was officially nominated for KCRG's Athlete of the Week.

IOWA CITY WEST 1, JEFFERSON 0

Goals: ICW – Mueng Sunday

Marathon J-Hawks take down another ranked foe

No, it was not a repeat. But Thursday's game against Xavier did feel very familiar to Tuesday night's contest at Kennedy.

Jefferson’s Eric Jones, who scored the game winner in double-overtime against Kennedy, slipped a goal in to the net off a nicely played through ball from Stefan Krohn and the J-Hawks won an overtime thriller, 1-0, at Xavier.

“Right now it is surreal,” Jones said. “I am just happy I am in the right spot at the right time to put them away.”

“I went in hard for the ball, looked to switch the field and saw a little gap,” Krohn said on the winning play. “Jones was right there and put it in.”

Class 3A No. 16 Jefferson is getting used to overtime and upsets. The J-Hawks took two overtimes to beat 3A No. 13 Kennedy on Tuesday night and followed that up with an overtime win over Class 2A top ranked Xavier.

“Obviously we would love to end it in regulation,” Krohn said of the week of overtimes. “But a win is a win whether it comes in overtime or not.”

The first half started rough for the J-Hawks. The Saints were able to control possession for a good part of the half and got plenty of opportunities to score.

“Soccer is a cruel game. You don’t get 30 lay-up opportunities in a game like basketball,” Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic said. “You get only a few opportunities so it hurts when you don’t finish.”

Despite a strong Saints attack the J-Hawk defense held strong and went into the half tied 0-0.

“We did a good job of falling back with them and not stepping early,” defender Fabian Huck said. “We got lucky a couple of times but in that end you need that little bit of luck.”

The second half saw the teams trade attacks and the defenses come up big time and time again.

Jefferson got a strong boost in the back from senior goalie Andrew Patience, who made some key saves to keep the Saints off the scoreboard.

“Patience is a big anchor in our defense,” Huck said. “With his goal keeping he is just amazing. He saves a lot that other goalkeepers wouldn’t.”

After a grueling 80 minutes the teams headed in to overtime even at zero goals apiece.

“It speaks a lot to their work in the offseason,” Jefferson assistant Ben Watson said of the team’s ability to stay strong in overtimes. “They were prepared coming in to the season to play all 80 minutes and beyond.”

The J-Hawks seemed to have more left in the tank as they came out in overtime with aggression and a feeling that the game was theirs to win. The J-Hawks attacked the Saints strong and took went they felt was theirs.

“The message from the bench was take what was ours. We saw that the game was ours,” Krohn said. “We knew that we could do it.”

“I think we kind of wanted them to attack more but we were kind of caught on our heels,” Hadzic said. “Ultimately that decided the game.”

J-Hawk players credit their strength, conditioning, and team chemistry to their continued success in their overtime wins.

“I would say it would be the strength and conditioning we do,” Jones said on their ability to push themselves throughout the long minutes.

“We work really hard together. We have worked really hard in the weight room,” Krohn added. “We have learned to play as a family and that’s really big when you get on the field.”

Jefferson’s only concern is if sophomore forward Hussin Al-Yasseri will be out long. He felt knee pain in the Kennedy game and it is believed he injured his meniscus.

“At this point it’s a meniscus issue. We don’t know if it is a full tear or a minor tear,” Jefferson Coach John O’Connor said. “He will have to get an MRI later in the week. It could be short term or it could be 4-6 weeks.”

Both teams will get some rest this weekend before tough games on Tuesday. Jefferson hosts 3A top ranked Iowa City West while the Saints hit the road to take on 2A second ranked Dubuque Wahlert.

“It feels great watching the team pull it out in overtime this past week. They are on a real high right now. Hopefully, they can carry it over to the Iowa City West game,” Watson said. “That is going to be a completely different animal when we play them on Tuesday.”

Jefferson 1, Xavier 0 (OT)
Goals: CRJ – Eric Jones Assists. CRJ – Stefan Krohn.