EVANS, GA – Indian Hills' first-ever trip to the NJCAA Women's Division I National Soccer Tournament produced both a win and a loss in pool play over the weekend.  IHCC opened with a thrilling 2-0 win that came down to penalty kicks in Friday's opener over Spartanburg Methodist (SC), before running into a buzz saw in the form of top-seeded Tyler (TX) on Saturday, which produced a 6-0 defeat, ending the Warriors season at 12-3-1 overall. 

Friday's opener saw the Warriors and Pioneers battle to a scoreless tie through regulation and two 10-minute extra periods, setting the stage for the dramatic penalty kick conclusion.

IHCC Head Coach Anthony Longo felt like if he could get his sophomore goalkeeper Elani Mears to get just one save in the PK's, he liked his team's chances.

"Elani has been awesome," Longo said.  "She's been a rock back there for sure, and any coach will tell you all you need to do is make one save.  Just make one save and keep us in the game."

SMC led off with Beyonce Williams and her shot went high.   IHCC's Makayla Reed went next and gave the Warriors a 1-0 advantage with shot that found the back of the net to the right as the Pioneers' Kayla Tucker dove the opposite direction.

"Personally, I like to look at the other corner that I'm not kicking at, and she went that way, so I got her. I tricked her." Reed said smiling. 

Isabella Padillo shot next for SPC and she sent a low driving kick to Mears' left and the IHCC keeper dove and made the one stop that Longo was predicting he and the Warriors would need to put the Pioneers behind the proverbial eight-ball.

"In the penalties, the goalies are up against it pretty hard, and you have to lean on your shooters," Longo said.  "You expect your shooters to do the job, and you need to make one save, and Lani did it for us."

Ashlyn Haas' opportunity to make it 2-0 Warriors was stopped by Tucker, but SPC could not take advantage as their next shot by Abigail Gibson again sailed high keeping IHCC ahead, 1-0.

Madison K. Meyer put the Pioneers on the brink of elimination with a low driving shot past Tucker to make it 2-0 Warriors, forcing Spartanburg's Madison Stewart into a must-make situation to extend the contest.

Stewart's shot would again clear the cross bar, which sent the Warriors spilling onto the field in celebration of their first-ever National Tournament victory in dramatic fashion.

"The nerves were definitely there for us," Longo admitted. "We were excited, and we were ready to go, but we were also pretty nervous because we had never been on this stage as a player or a coach, and then the program as a whole.  There were a lot of expectations and a lot of excitement."

That excitement may have been tempered quickly as the daunting task of being challenged with the nation's top-ranked, top-seeded and defending NJCAA National Champions in Tyler Junior College followed next for the Warriors on Saturday morning.

Any thought of springing an upset on the highly touted Apaches was quickly thwarted as Tyler shot two bullets past Mears in the first six minutes of the contest go up 2-0 before most folks had their breakfast finished for the 9 a.m. EDT kickoff.

"We knew they were number one for a reason," Longo said.  "They're dangerous all over the field, but in particular they have some really special players offensively.  They definitely got to us at the beginning when we gave up two quick ones, and it was an uphill battle from there."

To the Warriors' credit, they wouldn't surrender another goal for the remainder of the first half, but it was clear that TJC (16-0) was in control of the contest, and would end up with a 27-2 advantage over the Warriors in shots on goal as the Apaches would score four more times in the second half.

"This was a big lesson for our kids," Longo said after the loss.  "It showed our freshman that this is the level, and that every time they go out this summer to train that they need to remember this one."

Even with the season-ending defeat, Longo was quick to praise the accomplishment and breakthrough campaign that this group had in 2020-21.

"This showed that hard work does pay off.  We've had to take some tough losses to get to this point," Longo said.  "But, you know, now we are definitely one of the top programs in the country to be one of the 12 teams here.  This shows how far we've come since a few years ago when I took over, but it shows how far we still have to go.  I'm proud of what they've done to get to this point, that's for sure."

NJCAA D-I WOMEN'S

NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

POOL A

Game One

Team                                     1          2          OT       2OT    T

Spartanburg Methodist            0          0          0          0          0

Indian Hills                             0          0          0          0          0

Penalty Kicks

Spartanburg Methodist                           Indian Hills

No       Beyonce Williams                            Makayla Reed             Yes

No       Isabella Padillo                                Ashlyn Haas               No

No       Abigail Gibson                                 Madison K Meyer       Yes

No       Madison Stewart       

Final:  Spartan Methodist 0, Indian Hills 2.

Game Two

Team                                     1          2          T

Indian Hills                            0          0          0

Tyler Junior College                2          4          6

Scoring Summary

Period   Time  Play                                                          V-H

1^st          5:16     Mukarma Abdulai (unassisted)                 0-1

1^st          5:49    Heidi Mueller (from Candela Velasquez)     0-2

2^nd         50:52   Aleixa Moreira (unassisted)                      0-3

2^nd         65:06  Skylar Parker (unassisted)                        0-4

2^nd         75:56   Moira VanDerPutt (from Rocio Fernandez)  0-5

2^nd         88:30  Kristen Prior (Candela Velasquez)               0-6