IOWA CITY — Pick on somebody her own size? Cassandra Chalhoub rarely gets the chance.

“I never play anybody my size,” said Chalhoub, a diminutive senior from Cedar Rapids Xavier. “People see me, they don’t think I’m very good, and they think they can win really easy.”

Appearances can deceive.

Chalhoub advanced to the singles semifinals at the Class 2A girls’ state tennis tournament Thursday at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center. She rolled past Erica Miller of Ankeny, 6-1, 6-1, in the first round, then outlasted Sioux City West’s Maddie Warder, 4-6, …

By Chuck Schoffner
News correspondent

WEST DES MOINES — If there’s a soccer team that knows about heartbreak, it’s Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Ending a season once on a penalty kick shootout is tough enough. Having it happen a second time doubles the pain. But a third time? That’s downright cruel.

Xavier lost to Spencer, 2-1, in a shootout last night in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament, the third straight time the Saints’ season has ended in that emotion-sapping manner.

“A PK can go either way,” said junior Charlie Bales, who scored …

PLEASANT HILL — Iowa City West’s boys’ soccer team jabbed and jabbed and jabbed at Davenport Central for the first 60 minutes with little visible success last night.

But each jab weakened Central’s defense. Then in a 12-minute time span, West exploded for three goals to blow past Central, 3-0, in a Class 3A state quarterfinal at Southeast Polk High School. West (18-2) faces Bettendorf or Sergeant Bluff-Luton in a semifinal at 7:30 tonight at Southeast Polk.

West attacked at will early on. Shots sailed high and wide, and Central defender Jacob …

URBANDALE — It wasn’t a memorable performance, but Iowa City Regina boys’ soccer coach Rick Larew will take the result.

Regals sophomore Johnny Rummelhart drilled a 30-yard shot into the net eight minutes into the game Thursday to lift Iowa City Regina (19-2) past Holy Trinity, 1-0, in a Class 1A state quarterfinal at Frerichs Field. The top-ranked Regals advance to today’s 5 p.m. semifinal against Nevada (11-6).

“It wasn’t one of our better ones, but I’d hate to be disrespectful in any sense,” Larew said. “We played two real good games …

URBANDALE — Center Point-Urbana’s first trip to the Class 1A state soccer tournament ended short of the players’ expectations last night.

The Stormin’ Pointers (11-6-1) scored first and held the lead for 44 minutes. But Gladbrook-Reinbeck (10-6-2) scored two second-half goals to topple Center-Point Urbana, 2-1, in a Class 1A state quarterfinal.

“We’ve done a pretty good job this season defending, and I thought defensively … it’s a game of mistakes, and they just did a good job of exploiting our mistakes, really,” Center Point-Urbana Coach Thomas McCulloh said.

Center Point-Urbana senior Luke …

METRO/IOWA CITY
Cedar Falls 7-9, Linn-Mar 4-0
Dyersville Beckman 2, Marion 1
Iowa City High 3-10, Waterloo West 2-3
Iowa City Regina 4, Durant 0
Iowa City West 5-3, C.R. Jefferson 2-5
Kennedy 2-3, Waterloo East 0-13
Prairie 9-7, Dubuque Hempstead 6-6
Xavier 9-19, Washington 2-0 (2nd 3)
AREA
Bellevue 1, Bellevue Marquette 0
Charles City 7, Forest City 2
Clear Creek Amana 10, Maquoketa 2
Highland 7, Wapello 2
Jesup 5, Denver 1
Mount Vernon 9, Center Point-Urbana 7
Mid-Prairie 5, North Cedar 3
Turkey Valley 6-3, Lansing Kee 4-12
Waverly-Shell Rock 16, Waterloo Columbus 1 (4)
Williamsburg 3, West Delaware 1
 
IOWA CITY REGINA 4, DURANT 0 — …

METRO/IOWA CITY
Washington 8, Jefferson 5
Iowa City High 3, Iowa City West 1
Dyersville Beckman 9-13, Marion 6-7
AREA
Lansing Kee 7-4, Turkey Valley 5-3
Mid-Prairie 11-7, North Cedar 5-10
Mount Vernon 12-9, Center Point Urbana 2-6 (1st 5)
Solon 3-7, Benton Community 2-0
South Winnishiek 5-2, North Fayette 1-14 (2nd 5)
Union 2, Aplington-Parkersburg 1
Vinton-Shellsburg 6-10, Anamosa 3-5
West Delaware 3-11, Williamsburg 2-1 (2nd 6)
Western Dubuque 12, Waterloo Columbus 3
 
C.R. WASHINGTON 8, C.R. JEFFERSON 5 — Derek Giefking went 2-for-3 with a solo homer and A.J. Puk went 2-for-4 with an RBI for host Washington (6-2, 3-0 MVC). …

CLASS 2A
At Iowa City
Singles
First Round — Krissy Lankelma (Marshalltown) def. Brittney Smith (Linn-Mar), 6-0, 6-1; Alex Curtis (WDM Valley) def. Brittany Appel (Iowa City West), 7-5, 6-4; Elizabeth Hoffman (C.R. Xavier) def. Sophia Smarandescu (Ames), 6-4, 6-2; Kristin Barnes (Bettendorf) def. Megan Triplett (WDM Dowling), 6-1, 6-0; Cassandra Chalhoub (C.R. Xavier) def. Erica Miller (Ankeny), 6-1, 6-1; Madison Warder (Sioux City West) def. Laura Boenish (C.R. Kennedy), 6-4, 6-2; Catherine Porto (WDM Dowling) def. Megan Determan (Clinton), 6-3, 6-2; Susanna Howard (Iowa City High) def. Stacie Gieseke (Southeast Polk), 7-6 …

First Round
Class 3A at Southeast Polk
Ankeny 1, Cedar Falls 0
Ames 1, WDM Dowling 0 (2OT/PK)
Iowa City West 3, Davenport Central 0
Bettendorf 2, Sergeant Bluff-Luton 0
 
Class 2A at West Des Moines Valley
Dubuque Wahlert 2, Adel ADM 1
Dallas Center-Grimes 2, Keokuk 0
Hudson 4, Grinnell 0
Spencer 2, C.R. Xavier 1 (2OT/PK)
 
Class 1A at Urbandale
Iowa City Regina 1, FM Holy Trinity 0
Nevada 2, Hull Western Christian 0
Council Bluffs St. Albert 3, Bondurant-Farrar 2
Gladbrook-Reinbeck 2, Center Point-Urbana 1
 
TODAY
Semifinals
Class 3A at Southeast Polk
Ankeny vs. Ames, 5 p.m.
Iowa City West vs. Bettendorf, 7:30 p.m.
 
Class 2A at West …

Text of a conversation with Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Cassandra Chalhoub after her quarterfinal win at the state tennis tournament: