Soccer Talk presented by Kick It Forward

Fall is here and that means there are Games of the Week to cover! Our producer has been dealing with some technical difficulties so our timing isn't perfectly current, but our enthusiasm for the event hasn't waned. After the Drake Bulldogs started their season off with a loss, they've been on a three game winning streak recently recording wins over St. Thomas University and University of Nebraska-Omaha. We had the opportunity to check out their big first win of the season against Western Illinois University, a classic college soccer battle that took place on a beautiful afternoon in front of a small crowd at Cownie Soccer Complex.

Gracing us with his presence once again is Greg Velasquez, co-host of the excellent Scuffed Podcast, which provides all of the in-depth coverage and analysis of the U.S. Men's National Team that you could ever imagine. But why is Greg here? Because it's closing in on the most wonderful time of the year: World Cup Time. World Cup Qualifying in the CONCACAF region begins in earnest this week as the aptly named Ocho pits the top eight teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean against each other in the region's final round of World Cup Qualifying. The U.S. will take on El Salvador, Canada and Honduras during the international break, needing a strong return of points (somewhere between six and nine) to deem the week a relative success. Greg hops right in the saddle and brings us up to speed in one episode's time. Enjoy!

Hey gang, it's been awhile, but we needed a little break to replenish our positive disruption fuel! A few weeks of international soccer (Euros/Gold Cup), lots of Menace Soccer (USL 2 Champs, what?!) and some time on the home front was exactly what the doctor ordered. So we're back, re-energized, and ready to take on the rest of 2021. And what better way to get back into the swing of things than to have a great conversation with an Iowa Soccer Legend?!

This week we welcome Iowa native and professional soccer player, Lance Rozeboom, to the studio. Currently of Miami FC, which plays in the USL Championship, Lance was originally drafted by D.C. United in 2012 after playing locally for the infamous CRSA '89 squad, the Des Moines Menace and the University of New Mexico Lobos. Since then, his professional career has taken him all over the United States and Canada, playing for the Rochester Rhinos, Austin Aztex, Ottawa Fury and Tampa Bay Rowdies prior to his time with Miami FC.

We were fortunate enough to find out that Lance was back in town to spend some time with family. Naturally, we invited him on the podcast and he graciously accepted. We talk about all the soccer things plus how he fell in love with the game, who is on his all-Iowa five-a-side squad and his dreams of staying fit long enough to play for the USL Pro Iowa squad.

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Last week we were a part of history as we did Game of the Week LIVE at Valley Stadium featuring Des Moines United FC vs. Des Moines Menace!! Check out our postgame reaction from the sidelines while players from both teams intermingled with the fans on the field. It was a great day for soccer and no doubt, regardless of the result, the Des Moines soccer community was the real winner.

After checking out as many games as we could muster at the 2021 Soccer Championships, we recorded our post-game reaction LIVE from next to Field 8 where the Valley-Centennial game had just wrapped up.

Post-recap, we run through a preview of Thursday's impending Semifinal Round with the Titan Tactician. Here are the match-ups:

Class 1A

• Burlington Notre Dame/West Burlington (21-1) vs. Iowa City Regina (12-7)
• West Liberty (16-3) vs. Western Christian (15-1)

Class 2A

• Cedar Rapids Xavier (13-5) vs. Adel ADM (15-4)
• Bondurant-Farrar (17-3) vs. Dallas Center-Grimes (17-3)

Class 3A

• Iowa City West (19-1) vs. West Des Moines Valley (17-4)
• Pleasant Valley (18-3) vs. Johnston (16-3)

Yesterday we were LIVE at the first round of the IHSAA 2021 Soccer Championships at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines! You can see us in person on our YouTube channel, but if you're a little more the straight audio podcast type, we've got you covered.

We set up the Kick It Forward tent right in the middle of the action between Fields 6, 7 and 8 for the end of the Class 1A games, all of the Class 2A games and of course, for the Class 3A games that culminated with a dramatic shootout between 4th seeded Valley and 5th seeded Ankeny Centennial (video can be seen @kifsoccer on Instagram).

Part 1 is our Classes 1A and Class 2A wrap up, plus a pre-Class 3A conversation about the incoming action. Be sure to check out Part 2 for our post-game reaction from Cownie Soccer Complex!

** please note that while the audio for Part 1 of this LIVE episode isn't great, the audio on Part 2 is excellent in comparison **

Postseason games are coming thick and fast and quickly they start to become more and more meaningful. After taking in an entertaining Semifinal in Substate 3 between Roosevelt and Dowling, the Game of the Week Crew decided to visit Valley Stadium in West Des Moines where the Tigers would attempt to avenge a loss from earlier in the season to a young, but talented Ankeny Hawks side.

Other local 3A games included Centennial at Waukee in the Substate 2 Final and Dowling at Johnston in the Substate 3 Final. Because the soccer community is tight knit, we were able to enlist agents around town to provide updates on those games in real time.

We'll briefly discuss the details of the Ankeny-Valley game and also have a conversation around the other 3A results, the re-seeding for the State Tournament and bring you updates on the Class 1A and Class 2A match-ups as well.

We'll chat a little bit about next week's State Tournament in Des Moines to be played at James Cownie Soccer Complex, but more so, discuss how the rankings

After receiving over 300 total votes for the Game of the Week, more than 100 of them were cast in favor of a trip to Windsor Heights for the Roosevelt-Dowling match-up. In addition to it being a beautiful spring evening, both squads brought their fans out in full force and they would be rewarded by an entertaining match. As Coach Matt Ream's Roughriders finished out an undefeated conference schedule a trip to visit Dowling provided an opportunity to avenge their regular season penalty shootout loss as well as further their bid for a state tournament berth. Maroon's boss, Jackson Teeling, on the other hand, was mostly worried about getting his squad back on track after they had dropped results in five of their last seven contests, albeit to ranked opposition.

In a game with some drama and some good soccer, Dowling eventually earned a date with fourth-ranked Johnston who narrowly defeated crosstown rival, Urbandale, and will host the Maroons on the evening of Wednesday, May 26th.

• #16 Roosevelt Roughriders - Matt Ream
• #14 Dowling Catholic Maroons - Jackson Teeling
• #13 Ankeny Hawks - Marcus Varnum
• #7 Johnston Dragons - Jim Frizzell
• #6 Ankeny Centennial - Brian Duax
• #4 Valley Tigers - Aziz Haffar
• #1 Waukee Warriors - Carlos Acebey

We've been in the thick of the high school soccer season, covering lots of Games of the Week, but we figured it was time to revisit The Player's Spotlight. It was only appropriate to track down high school senior, Jaren Obia, one of the standout players for the second-ranked Valley Tigers. Jaren's 31 goals (at the time of publication) is the most in the state for Class 3A and his 13 assists put him in the Top Five statewide in that category. Needless to say, the well-rounded and well-spoken Obia will be a good addition to Grand View University in the fall of 2021 where he will join up with squad after a strong high school career and club career with West Des Moines Soccer Club and Sporting Iowa. As we creep towards the state tournament, we'll be excited to see if Obia and the Tigers find a way into the latter stages at Cownie in June.