Posted: Sep 17, 2022
Ottumwa, IA – Daniele Verdirosi (Rome, Italy/Araniti) continued to score at will for the Indian Hills Men's Soccer team as the Warriors picked up a 4-1 victory at home over Iowa Central Community College on Saturday. Indian Hills moves to 7-3-0 overall on the year.
The freshman forward netted a pair of second half goals to propel the Warriors to its third consecutive win over the Tritons. As a team, the Warriors netted three goals over the final 45 minutes of action in the team's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) opener. After dropping two of its first three contests of the year, the Warriors have now rattled off six victories in the team's last seven contests.
Verdirosi has now scored a goal in six of the team's last seven matches for a total of eight goals during the span. Verdirosi's nine goals on the season are tied for the fourth most in the nation and second within the ICCAC ranks.
Indian Hills also relied on goals from Kevin Mejias (Fromo, Italy/Montegiorgio Calcio) in the first half and a 68th minute strike from freshman Ron Becker (Tubingen, Germany/Evangelisches Firstwald Gymnasium). Freshman Kaz Kromwijk (Schenkeldijk, Netherlands/Stedelijk Dalton Lyceum Kaptynweg) worked all 90 minutes in net for the Warriors to earn the win and improve to 4-1-0 on the year.
Indian Hills used a 10-7 shots advantage over the Tritons, including a 6-3 edge in the first half. The Warriors totaled four corner kicks in the win, all coming in the first stanza.
In a match that saw a two and a half hour delay due to impending weather along with a location change to Ottumwa's turf field at Schaefer Stadium, the Warriors struck first right out of the chute. Mejias beat a pair of defenders and the Triton goalie from close range just 2:32 into the contest for the early lead. Galder Gaztelu-Iturri's (Bilboa, Spain/Lauro Ikastola) cross found Andres Valencia (Bogota, Colombia/Cendi) in the box whose one-touch connected with Mejias for the early goal.
After maintaining its 1-0 advantage through the duration of the first half, the Warriors converted another quick goal to open the second half. Kento Tani's (Tokyo, Japan/Nihon University Sano) through ball in the offensive third found a streaking Verdirosi who in turn fired a strike to the far side for the 2-0 lead in the 49th minute.
Indian Hills went ahead 3-0 in the 68th minute as Becker rifled a free kick from 33 yards out that dipped past the Triton goalie. The goal was Becker's fifth of the season.
After a Triton goal in the 73rd minute, the Warriors tacked on an insurance goal in the 84th minute as Verdirosi's number was once again called. After Gustavo Marques' (São Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Anglo Indaiatuba) shot was deflected, Verdirosi corralled the loose ball and fired a shot for his team-leading ninth finisher of the year.
The Warriors' conference schedule continues with a matchup at Marshalltown Community College at 1:00 PM on Tuesday.
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