COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – One step forward, two steps back.
After notching Indian Hills' first-ever victory over perennial power Iowa Western on May 5 in the second regular season meeting between the two squads, the rubber match went to the Reivers in the all-important Region XI Championship Wednesday at Reiver Field, 1-0.
The win sends Iowa Western (11-1) to the Great Lakes District Championship Game for the 14th time in the last 15 years, and leaves Indian Hills in the precarious position of waiting for the NJCAA to hand out its three at large bids, to go along with the nine automatic bids to the National Tournament. The Warriors (11-2-1) will hope to have their name called on either May 26th or the 27th for an at large bid for a trip to the June 3-8 national event in Evans, Georgia.
"All in all, we didn't have the same intensity and fight as we did in our home win against Western," admitted IHCC Head Coach Anthony Longo. "You need a full collective effort to win championships, and we didn't get that today. It was a missed opportunity for the program."
Iowa Western wasted little time getting on the board as Ririka Kamimura took a pass from Alexis Ashmore and put it past Elani Mears in the eighth minute for a 1-0 lead. The Reivers would dig in after that and make that goal stand up the rest of the way.
"Most important thing in big games like this is winning the first fifteen minutes. On the road against a great team, you can't give up early goals. We did that today, and it forced us to chase the rest of the game," Longo added. "Offensively, we had a tough time getting things going. Our touch was not on, and we couldn't connect passes the way we normally do. It was a sloppy effort offensively."
Despite their ineffectiveness on the offensive end, the Warriors, did have one opportunity just before intermission to knot it up.
"Makayla Reed had a nearly perfect shot right before the half from outside the 18, and the Western goalie made the save of the year," Longo explained. "That could have been a huge momentum shift, but credit to the Western goalie for coming up big when needed."
For the time being, the Warriors will continue to practice and will ready if called upon.
"Now we play the waiting game and hope we are selected for an at-large bid. With our body of work, I think we absolutely deserve one of the three bids," Longo said. "Hopefully the committee takes a good look at what we've accomplished this season, and we get selected."
Scoring Summary
Period Time Team Play V-H
1st 8:00 IW Ririka Kamimura (from Alexis Ashmore) 0-1