The Class 1A No. 14 GC/G-R Rebels started fast in both halves, scoring all of their goals in the first five minutes of each to defeat Iowa Falls-Alden 3-0 in Tuesday’s Region 5 quarterfinal.

The start of the match was moved up from 6 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., but lightning delayed the adjusted time to 5:45 instead.

GC/G-R senior forward Madison McMartin scored just four minutes into the match, which endured a 1 hour, 45 minute halftime because of lightning strikes in the area and a 10-minute allowance for warm-up time. The Rebels (12-5) racked up a pair of goals inside the opening four minutes of the second half to secure their step to the next round.

The Rebels advance to face Garner-Hayfield-Ventura (5-10) at 6 p.m. Friday night back in Reinbeck in the Region 5 semifinals.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck senior midfielder Sydney Mathews, center, sends a shot on goal past Iowa Falls-Alden defenders Addy Bicknese (7) and Chloe Fagerlind (21) during the second half of Tuesday’s regional soccer match in Reinbeck.

“We talked through all those breaks, it’s just about resiliency,” said Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck head coach Aaron Mara. “These girls have been busting their butts all year and I think deep down inside they didn’t want it to get called at halftime. So when we came out, it’s like ‘let’s put one in there early and let’s end this thing’ and we got two pretty quickly in the second half.”

McMartin gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead at the 3:40 mark, making a well-timed run on a pass into the box by Sydney Mathews that eluded the Iowa Falls-Alden defense and met McMartin on the run. Her shot sailed past Cadets goalkeeper and co-leading scorer Darby Dodd, who played the first 28:16 in net in an attempt to keep IFA in the game.

She made four saves before giving way to the team’s traditional starting keeper Rachel Widmann, but Dodd’s presence on the offensive third of the pitch didn’t have the desired impact once the switch was made.

Iowa Falls-Alden dropped four and sometimes five defenders back to limit GC/G-R’s chances, but the Rebels adjusted during their lengthy halftime period and played to their coach’s liking.

“I would say that second half of the game, with the conditions and weather and the break, I thought that was probably one of the better halves we’ve played all year,” said Mara. “The one thing we’ve been preaching since the end of last week after the little hiccup with Denver was possession. We did not possess the ball and move it around, so we made a couple adjustments at half and obviously it paid off with a couple goals early on.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - GC/G-R sophomore midfielder Jacque Kuester, right, shoots around defender Makenna Meyer of Iowa Falls-Alden during the first half of Tuesday’s Class 1A Region 5 quarterfinal match in Reinbeck.

Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck racked up an unofficial 19 shots on goal for the match, with 11 of them coming in the second half. Rebel freshman Reece Gordan turned another Mathews pass into a GC/G-R tally, scoring on a skipping shot from 20 yards out past Widmann, and Mathews got in on the fun herself when Rachel Cooley’s direct kick from near midfield was misplayed by the Cadet defense. Mathews found the ball at her feet and space to shoot, and snuck it inside the far post to beat Widmann and make the score 3-0 just 58 seconds after the previous goal.

“It was kind of a relief to get that first one [in the first half] because they talked about that they could call the game at half so we had to get one early,” said Cooley, a senior defenseman. “To have those two goals to start the second half was like a deep breath.

“The second half was how we need to play the rest of the season, so this was a good confidence-booster for us.”

Mathews, a senior midfielder, had a part in all three GC/G-R goals in finishing with one goal and two assists. She and sophomore midfielder Jacque Kuester both had a team-leading four shots on goal while the Rebel defense helped senior goalkeeper Carsen Hamann come up with the team’s ninth shutout of the season.

“This defense I have, they’ve been playing together going on three years now so it’s all about communication and making sure everyone knows where they’re at and what they need to do,” Mara said. “My defense held tight tonight.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

“All year I’ve been singing [Hamann’s] praises about her play back there. She’s not getting a lot of looks but tonight the few looks that she had, she was able to corral them and put up another shutout, which is awesome.

Hamann was forced to make just five saves, but most of them were worth of the highlight reel, including one in the early stages of the match when Cooley tried to rebuff an Iowa Falls-Alden pass into the zone and instead fell down in the slippery conditions.

Senior midfielders/defenders Cora Saak and Taylor Gienger stepped up to help provide defense as Cadet freshman Addy Gillespie broke in on Hamann.

“That was really embarassing … but the girls backed me up, it’s all about the team,” said Cooley. “Carsen had an amazing stop. It’s great to have those people back there.”

Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s halftime adjustments turned into a strong second half as the Rebels dominated possession and peppered Widmann with 12 shot attempts in a 15-minute stretch. GC/G-R had six corner kicks to the Cadets’ one, and outshot its guests 29-8.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

“With the wet conditions, shots and following shots is kind of key,” Mara said. “I think we could have had a couple more goals.”

The shot total was satisfactory enough to eliminate Iowa Falls-Alden (7-9) just the same. The Cadets were shut out in eight of their nine losses this season, including their last three games.

“We knew they were going to be physical, most likely play the girl before the ball,” Cooley said, “but our defense is pretty strong. We don’t like to be pushed around so I guess that’s how it went.”

Iowa Falls-Alden was whistled for eight fouls to GC/G-R’s six, and the Cadets picked up the only yellow card of the match, and that came with 8.7 seconds left for dissent.

Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3, Iowa Falls-Alden 0

At Reinbeck

IFA 0 0 — 0

GC/G-R 1 2 — 3

First Half

GCGR — Madison McMartin (Sydney Mathews), 3:40.

Second Half

GCGR — Reece Gordan (Mathews), 43:59.

GCGR — Mathews (Rachel Cooley), 44:57.

Goalkeepers — IFA: Darby Dodd (5 shots on goal-4 saves), Rachel Widmann (14-12); GCGR: Carsen Hamann (5-5).

Shots — IFA 8, GCGR 29.

Shots on Goal — IFA 5, GCGR 19.

Fouls — IFA 8, GCGR 6.

Corner Kicks — IFA 1, GCGR 6.

Yellow Cards — Makenna Meyer, IFA, 79:52.

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