Ottumwa, IA – The No. 9 Indian Hills Men's Soccer team erupted for four second half goals to advance to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men's Soccer Midwest District Championship match. The Warriors topped Harry S. Truman (IL) 5-0 on Friday afternoon.
Five different individuals found the back of the net as Indian Hills (8-2-4) turned a 1-0 halftime lead into its largest margin of victory in a shutout this year. The Warriors will now head to the District championship, slated for 2:00 PM Sunday afternoon at the IHCC Soccer Complex against No. 12 Iowa Western Community College. The Reivers defeated Lincoln Trail College (IL) in penalty kicks to advance on Friday.
Lucas Bauer (Oldenburg, Germany/IGS Kreyenbruck) tallied the game's first goal as the Warriors held the Falcons in check throughout the first 45 minutes of play. Nasser Benbella (Casablanca, Morocco/Al Khansa), Luka Laurin Heins (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Neu Wulmstorf), and Daniel Mulero (Asturias, Spain/Salesianos Santo Angel Aviles) scored three goals in a 10-minute span to pull away before Keigo Yoshida (Yokohoma City, Japan/Yokohoma So-Gakukan) capped the scoring for the Warriors.
Freshman keeper Harvey Sellers (Surrey, England/Ewell Castle) pitched the shutout for the Warriors, his fourth of the season to move to 4-1-4 on the year. Sellers stopped a pair of shots in the win to lower his goals against average to 0.62 this season, the eight-lowest mark in the nation.
As a team, the Warriors tallied 24 shots on the day, with 10 on target. Indian Hills also earned four corner kicks to three for the Falcons.
Sunday will mark the Warriors' first-ever appearance in the District title match and will be in search of their second all-time berth to the national tournament, and first since 2017.
Bauer opened up the scoring for the Warriors in the 30th minute after heading home a cross from Heins for the freshman's fifth goal of the season, tied for the team lead.
Holding onto the 1-0 lead entering the second half, Benbella doubled the advantage at the 48:03 mark after converting a penalty kick goal for the Warriors. Just over a minute later, Heins connected on his first collegiate goal as the sophomore fired a one-touch shot into the back of the net on assists from Bauer and Fernadno Pirri (Cordoba, Spain/IES Francisco de los Rios).
Mulero pushed the lead to 4-0 at the 58:23 mark after burying a strike from 15 yards on an assist from Pirri, Mulero's second goal of the year. The Warriors maintained the four-goal advantage until Yoshida converted his first collegiate goal at the 87:46 mark on an assist from Emilio Linares (Lima, Peru/Liceo Naval).
The Warriors and Reivers have squared off twice this year with the Warriors taking each contest. Indian Hills is currently on a three-match win streak against its conference foes.
Fans can catch all of the action Sunday on GoHillsTV:
- www.gohillstv.com/browse
- Download the GoHillsTV mobile app to your Android or Apple device
- Watch live on GoHillsTV Facebook
- Download the GoHillsTV app to your Roku TV
Looking for Indian Hills Athletics information straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our newsletter and mobile alerts to receive news, scores, highlights, and more in real-time: INDIAN HILLS ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER
