Rain poured down on the Cedar Falls soccer complex as the City High mens soccer team traveled to Cedar Falls for their 4th game of the season.

After a powerful 3-0 start in the IC West tournament over the weekend, the Little Hawks were going into this game ranked #1 in the state.

“Being ranked #1 early in the season gives us a really big confidence boost,” says Mitch McCarthy ’16, “but to be #1 it also meant we had to play like a #1 team,”

Winning the game 3-0, the team indeed played like they were meant to be ranked #1.

With 30 shots taken and 17 being on target, City High’s offense was a force to reckoned with.

Jonah Dancer ’18 kicked the scoring off in the 48th minute after a great backheel pass from Rasmus Schlutter ’17. Jacob Struve ’16 followed up scoring in the 56th and Cameron Chavez ’18 scored the final goal in the 78th after being subbed on in the 75th.

Seniors, Sarrive Rukakiza and Victor Brown-Rodriguez locked down the backfield as City’s last line of defense, leading to goalkeeper Sam Tomek ’17 only having one touch on the ball the entire night. Full backs, Rasmus Schlutter and Jackson Meyer ’18 played well on both sides of the field causing problems for both Cedar Falls’ defense and offense.

“The team played very well today on both sides of the pitch, we just have to stay focused and not let the ranking get to our heads and impact us in how we play or how we act,” said Brown-Rodriguez, “Although, being ranked #1 brings a lot of pressure, but we’re going to have to cope with it, simply because without the pressure, we wouldn’t become diamonds in the long run.”