Ottumwa, IA – The Indian Hills Men's Soccer team picked up its second consecutive victory with a 3-2 win at home over Southeastern Community College on Wednesday. The Warriors move to 3-2-0 on the year.
After falling behind 1-0 late in the first half, the Warriors responded with an equalizer form Daniele Verdirosi (Rome, Italy/Araniti) followed by a goal from Kento Tani (Tokyo, Japan/Nihon University Sano) less than a minute later to take the lead. Both sides traded goals in the second half, but the Warriors held off the Blackhawks to pick up the win.
Kaz Kromwijk (Schenkeldijk, Netherlands/Stedelijk Dalton Lyceum Kaptynweg) picked up the win in net after stopping four shots in 46 minutes of action while Matteo Scarduzio (San Secondo Parmense, Italy/Fabio Bocchialini) stopped a pair of shots to close out the victory.
The Warriors have now scored double-digit goals in each of its five matches this year, including at least three in four of the contests. The team's 18 goals on the year currently rank second in the nation while the team's 83 shots are the most among all National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men's Soccer programs.
Scoring opened up in the 33rd minute as Southeastern managed to break the Warrior defense at midfield and find the back of the net. Indian Hills wasted little time in responding as Verdirosi netted his third goal of the season less than five minutes later. The freshman received a long through ball from Ron Becker (Tubingen, Germany/Evangelisches Firstwald Gymnasium) to knot the score at one-all.
The team's leading scorer, Tani netted his fourth goal of the season 51 seconds later after taking advantage of a Blackhawk miscue in the Warriors' offensive third. Indian Hills took its 2-1 advantage into the halftime intermission.
The Warriors scored its third unanswered goal 4:21 into the second half as Mohammed Bouchafrati (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany/Tannenbusch Gymnasium) scored his third goal of the season on an assist from Galder Gaztelu-Iturri (Bilbao, Spain/Lauro Ikastola) to make it 3-1 in favor of the home team.
Indian Hills' defense clamped down on the Blackhawks until Southeastern broke free in the 74th minute to pull back within one, 2-1. The Warriors held on down the stretch and carried out the victory.
The Warriors are back in action Saturday, Sept. 3 in Waterloo, IA for a 1:00 PM match against Hawkeye Community College.
WARRIOR WIN! @ihccmsoc took a 3-2 win over @SCC_Blackhawks this afternoon at IHCC Field as the Warriors (3-2). Southeastern drops to 0-2 on the season. The Warriors travel to Waterloo Saturday to take on @HawkeyeRedTails at 1 p.m. at Cedar Valley Complex. pic.twitter.com/zncp0IsHD5
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) August 31, 2022
