Norwalk’s magical run to the state soccer finals ended Saturday with their acceptance of the Class 3A runner-up trophy. The Warrior boys ran into a red-hot Iowa City Liberty squad in the 3A championship game, losing 5-0 at the James W. Cownie Soccer Park.

The Lightning struck for four goals in the final 18:32 of the first half, including two in the last 2:07, and added one more score in the second half. Liberty finishes the season with seven straight wins and an overall record of 12-8, claiming their first state title.

Norwalk (13-8) entered the title game on a seven-game streak, including one-goal wins over Urbandale in the substate final (2-1), Humboldt in the state quarterfinals (3-2) and top-seeded Des Moines Hoover in the semifinals (1-0). The Warriors will now add a sixth runner-up trophy to an already crowded case that includes four state titles.

Norwalk coach Dustin Kralik calls lowa City Liberty a quality team and a very deserving champion. He feels that the Warriors held their own for the first 15 to 20 minutes of the match, but lost their composure after falling behind two scores and got away from what they do best. Kralik tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that he is very proud of his team and the growth that they made during the home stretch of the season.

“We can be disappointed for today, but after that the moments that we went through in the season still don’t change,” he said. “The game after game where we really had to put everything into it – I think just kind of finally caught up with us today, but we put the program back where we want to be. Back not just in the state tournament, but putting ourselves in a position to go and win a title.”

Senior Hayden Saul led the Lightning with two goals while Cooper Saul, Haider Nasr and Mason Pentecost all scored once. The score was just 2-0 when Nasr’s corner kick led to Hayden Saul’s second goal with 2:07 left in the half. Nasr then found the back of the net on a left-footer with just :23 remaining to put the Warriors in a 4-0 hole at the break.

Three Norwalk players were named to the Class 3A All-Tournament Team in senior Jack Brown, junior Caden Endres and freshman Tyden Eng.