TAMA — The Prairie City-Monroe girls’ soccer team has had quite the turnaround from last season when it won just three games.
The Mustangs also are scoring goals at a much higher rate and the 4-0 win over South Tama County-East Marshall on Friday sent PCM to the Class 2A Region 7 semifinals.
Sophomore Abby Waddell scored twice and McKinzie Tjaden added a goal and an assist in the victory, the Mustangs’ seventh of the year.
“It was our best game of the year, and it was a good time to do it,” PCM coach Bill Sowder said. “The passing was great and we were much more aggressive.”
The Mustangs led the match 2-0 at halftime as Waddell scored both goals.
Tjaden made it 3-0 and Colfax-Mingo senior defender Kaylee Stubbs put the finishing touches on the win with her first goal of the year off a penalty kick.
It was Waddell’s fourth goal of the year. Tjaden now has a team-high 11 goals and four assists.
Freshman McKeely Tjaden was the winner in goal for the Mustangs. She stopped eight shots and now has 209 saves on the year, which ranks 15th in the state.
PCM has won three of its last four games and the shutout over the Trojans was its fourth of the year.
The Trojans (0-19) were shut out for the 17th time this season.
“South Tama was really physical and borderline dirty,” Sowder said. “We didn’t back down though and stayed focused.”
The Mustangs advance to the regional semifinals where they will meet fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier. That match will be played at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Cedar Rapids.
The Saints (7-7) are led by Katie Ives, who has 10 goals on the season but 14 players have at least one goal.
Of Xavier’s seven losses, five have been by two goals or less.
“They are good. We’ll have our hands full,” Sowder said. “We’ll have to shadow (Ives) and slow her down if we’re going to have a chance to win. We’ll give it a shot.”