Ottumwa, IA – The Indian Hills Women's Soccer team kicked off its 2024 campaign with an impressive victory at the IHCC Classic on its home turf with a 3-0 win over Illinois Central Community College. Three different Warriors found the back of the net in the net.

The Warriors kicked off the season on the second day of the four-day, seven-match IHCC Classic at the IHCC Soccer Complex. Indian Hills took a quick lead in the fourth minute of play and never looked back. The Warriors have now opened up a season with a shutout in four of the last five seasons.

Sophomore Maika Nchana (Barcelona, Spain/INS Torras I Bages), who ranked second on the team last season as a freshman with 14 points, buried the team's first goal of the 2024 season at the 3:28 mark of the opening half. Freshman Rachel Okoro (Slough, England/Claires Court) played a ball to a streaking Kiara Levac (Sudbury, Canada/E.S.C. I'Horizon) who connected with Nchana in the box to bury the one-touch.

The Warriors maintained its one goal advantage thanks in large par to a series of stellar saves from sophomore Maria Melendez (Aragua, Venezuela/Aragua Estudiantil). Melendez stopped six shots in the opening half.

Indian Hills doubled its lead at the 32:45 mark as Levac found the back of the net for the first time in her collegiate career. Levac received a long free kick from the foot of Aubree Boyd (Montrose, IA/Central Lee) and in turn beat the defense to take a 2-0 advantage.

Boyd collected her second assist of the game after playing another lengthy pass from the midfield to connect with Okoro who slipped past the defense. Okoro took a pair of touches before putting a shot past the Illinois Central keeper with less than a minute to play before intermission.

Melendez maintained the shutout with a flawless second half to keep the Cougars off the board. The sophomore stopped eight shots altogether on the day to collect her fourth career solo shutout.

As a team, the Warriors outshot the Cougars 18-11 and earned five corner kicks to just three from Illinois Central.

Indian Hills is back in action on Sunday for the final day of the IHCC Classic. Indian Hills will take on No. 7 nationally ranked Navarro College (TX) at 11:00 AM. Navarro and No. 1 ranked Iowa Western Community College drew a 3-3 tie on Friday afternoon.

HOW TO WATCH

As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of Indian Hills Women's Soccer matches. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:

• Facebook: visit www.facebook.com/gohillstv
• GoHillsTV App: Download the GoHillsTV app on your android or ios device
• Website: https://www.gohillstv.com/browse to catch all live and archived information
• Roku Streaming Device:  Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!

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