It was a one man show in Des Moines on Thursday as Zubeen Azari single-handedly outscoring the top-scoring team in Class 2A. The senior forward netted a hat-trick in Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji’s 4-1 defeat of Pella in the state quarterfinals at Cownie Soccer Complex. Azari opened the scoring with a goal in 23rd minute on an assist from fellow forward Kade Heikens. The rest of the scoring came after the intermission, as Heikens again set up Azari in the 49th minute and Brett Cochran-Bray fed Azari at the 63-minute mark. SLP-O received its final goal from senior Daniel Tomas in the final three minutes. Goaltender Keith Oskvig tallied nine saves, however, lost the shutout with a last minute goal by Pella.
The Little Dutch end their season with a 17-3-1 record. At 14-2-2, Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji advances to the semifinals, where they will get a rematch against Norwalk. The Warriors eliminated the defending state champs from Cedar Rapids Xavier with a 2-1 win on penalty kicks following two overtimes. In 2011, Norwalk topped SLP-O 2-1 to reach the state title game in Class 2A.
Click here for the postgame interview with SLP-O senior Zubeen Azari.
Click here for the postgame interview with SLP-O coach Bill Cochran-Bray.
Friday’s match will begin at 2:30pm and can be heard on Q102 and at ExploreOkoboji.com.
