CG-Belgium bats .667 in Bettendorf tourney

Cedar Grove-Belgium High School’s girls’ soccer team goes to the Tournament of Champions in Bettendorf, Iowa, to compete against top competition, and that’s exactly what the Rockets got this year.

The team won its first two games by shutouts over opponents from much larger schools, then ran into “the strongest team I’ve ever coached against,” coach Zac Garza said.

The Rockets lost on Saturday, 8-0, to Oak Park and River Forest High School from Illinois, which has about 3,200 students – 10 times the size of Cedar Grove-Belgium.

“Every single one of those girls were as skilled or as fast as our best skilled and fastest player,” Garza said.

The game was stopped at 70 minutes via the eight-goal mercy rule. The rule allows games to end at 60 minutes, but the Rockets hung in there longer.

Arden Getschman got off one shot for the Rockets. The team was forced to play defense for nearly the entire game.

“I told our girls, ‘We do this to other teams and I think we kind of take things for granted sometimes. It just goes to show that it’s not easy and we also know what it feels like — to be respectful in those situations when we are mercy ruling teams,” Garza said.

The Rockets beat Jacksonville, Ill., on Friday, 6-0. Getschman had three goals and an assist, and Gracie Schmidt had two goals and two assists. Raygan Bialzik scored once and Kami Horn had an assist.

Aubrey Johnson made one save and Tessa Krause made four in evenly splitting time at keeper.

“We scouted them early in the day. They played with an aggressive offside trap. We told the girls the game plan and were able to execute. We were up, 4-0, by halftime,” Garza said.

On Saturday, the Rockets started by beating Pekin, Ill., 3-0. Getschman had all three goals, and Schmidt had an assist. Krause made four saves.

“We were able to make our chances count. It’s a win that we had to work for,” Garza said.

He was happy to get Horn, Johnson and defender Mia Grisolono back from injury. They all saw limited minutes over the weekend.

The trip was a success beyond the pitch.

“The girls had a blast. We got to do a lot of team bonding like we always do,” Garza said. “We’ve seen positive things happen after that tournament in the past.”

On April 28, the Rockets beat Kewaunee, 13-0, at home. Schmidt had four goals, Getschman had three and Bialzik had two. Claire Prinsen, Mikayla Rowdon, Mara Getschman and Carissa Konzak each had one.

Arden Getschman had three assists. Rowdon had two and Prinsen, Mara Getschman, Bialzik, Ava Peterson, Aubrey Salmon and Riley Albinger each had one.

The Rockets, 3-0 and tied for second in the Big East Conference, are 8-3-1 overall. They were to host Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian (5-3-1) on Tuesday, May 5. They play at Howards Grove (7-1) on Thursday, May 7.