Ottumwa, IA – No. 11 Indian Hills Men's Soccer remained unbeaten in its last six contests as the Warriors scored a 1-1 draw with Southeastern Community College at home on Tuesday afternoon. The Warriors move to 5-1-5 on the year.
The Warriors used a goal from freshman Alex Rodriguez (Valladoli, Spain/Les Nunez de Arce) in the 57th minute to take the initial lead over the Blackhawks, but Southeastern responded in the 77th minute with a goal of their own. The two teams battled through a scoreless 13:15 to close out the match with the draw.
Tuesday's match proved to be the final home contest of the season for the Warriors as the program recognized 10 sophomores before the start of the match – Kaz Kromwijk (Schenkeldijk, Netherlands/Stedelijk Dalton Lyceum Kaptynweg), Richard Rokodi-Phelos (Suva, Fiji/International School Suva), Jack Donlan (Manchester, England/Oldham Sixth Form), Thomas Murrieri (Dijon, France/Lycée Les Arcades), Luka Laurin Heins (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Neu Wulmstorf), Gustavo Marques (São Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Anglo Indaiatuba), Hayato Morimoto (Osaka, Japan/Kokoku), Emilio Linares (Lima, Peru/Liceo Naval), Alex Peytoureau (Bordeaux, France/Saint Joseph Bordeaux), and Teppei Nishi (Kagoshima, Japan/Shoyo).
The Warriors outshot the Blackhawks 12-8 on Tuesday and have now outshot all but two of their opponents on the year.
Freshman Harvey Sellers (Surrey, England/Ewell Castle) remained unbeaten to open his collegiate career as the keeper worked all 90 minutes in net with a pair of saves. Sellers moves to 1-0-4 on the year for the Warriors. The freshman owns a 0.39 goals against average on the year, the lowest mark in the nation for keepers that have played more than 450:00 on the season. Sellers' mark is the fourth-best goals against average among all qualifying individuals across the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).x
With the one goal allowed, the Warriors now own a 0.92 goals against average which ranks 17th nationally. Indian Hills has allowed one goal or less in nine of the team's 11 matches this year.
An evenly played first half saw both sides come up empty in the scoring column through 45 minutes of action as both clubs managed just one shot on net in the openinzg frame. The Warriors finally hit paydirt at the 56:13 mark as Nasser Benbella (Casablanca, Morocco/Al Khansa) slipped a ball through the backline of the Blackhawk defense that found a streaking Rodriguez. The freshman fired his first touch past the outstretched arms of the diving Southeastern keeper for the game's first goal.
Southeastern eventually evened the match at one after Sellers made a spectacular save on a Southeastern free kick from 20 yards out, only to see the Blackhawks find the back of the net on the rebound.
The five ties are now the most in men's soccer program history for a single season.
Next up for the Warriors is an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) showdown with league foe Iowa Western Community College at 2:00 PM Saturday in Council Bluffs. The Reivers are currently ranked No. 9 in the nation. The Warriors previously defeated Iowa Western 1-0 in Ottumwa on September 16.
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