The countdown of Norwalk’s top 10 sports stories from the past school year continues today with moment number 4. For the second straight year and the 15th time in program history, the Warriors advanced to the Boys State Soccer Tournament in Des Moines and reached the Class 3A semifinals.

Battling a difficult schedule throughout the regular season, Norwalk peaked at the right time and qualified for state with a thrilling 1-0 Substate final win over Carlisle. Teegan Kralik’s rebound goal on a one-timer provided the lone goal with 5:28 remaining. Keilor Rodman’s cross found the foot of Eli Scavo and the ball deflected off a Wildcat player before Kralik sent it to the back of the net.

Rodman told KNIA Sports that the Warriors’ veteran-laden squad simply found a way to win. “It’s definitely a great feeling,” he said. “This is kind of the benchmark we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. We knew this is where we wanted to be and we knew this is where we could be. We kind of took the similar path as last season. We were a little rocky through the regular, but started to figure things out towards the end. Maybe not our best game tonight, but we put it together and we got out of here with a win, which is the only thing that matters.”

The fourth seed in the 3A bracket, Norwalk put forth a dominating defensive performance in a 2-0 state quarterfinal win over Marion, getting goals from Jace Davis and Tyden Eng for their sixth straight victory. Davis scored again in the semifinals, but the Warriors were defeated 2-1 by Des Moines Hoover and finished the season at 12-9 overall.

Norwalk, this year’s Little Hawkeye Conference runner-up behind eventual 3A state champion Dallas Center-Grimes, will lose 13 seniors off the roster. The future remains bright, however, as the team’s leading goal scorer (Scavo), assist leader (Kralik) and goalie (Jacoby Robbins) will all be juniors next season.