Ottumwa, IA – The annual IHCC Classic is set to kick-off this weekend as the Indian Hills Men's and Women's Soccer teams host the three-day, seven-match event at the Indian Hills Soccer Complex.

DETAILS: 2023 IHCC Classic

August 18-20  |  Ottumwa, IA  |  IHCC Soccer Complex

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Tournament Homepage

• Schedule, live stats, live streaming via GoHillsTV

ADMISSION: Free!

FORECAST

• Friday – 81 degrees, sunny, clear skies
• Saturday – 90 degrees, sunny, light breeze
• Sunday – 97 degrees, sunny, partly cloudy

FIRST WHISTLE

Both the Indian Hills Men's and Women's squads will open the season under first-year head coaches. Jon Hussak will lead the women into the IHCC Classic with a pair of games against nationally ranked foes while Felix Vu will guide the Warrior men through a competitive opening weekend.

The Indian Hills women's squad returns seven members of last year's NJCAA Region 11 runner-up team. Sophomore Sara Cogoli brings experience in the net while Kenya Lee earned All-Region honors. Shay Polson and Milena Leon combined for 30 starts and nine assists on the pitch last  season.

On the men's side, five sophomores return from last year's region championship squad. Sophomore Kaz Kromwijk brings a wealth of experience in goal while returners Richard Rokodi-Phelps and Jack Donlan highlight the defense and Gustavo Marques brings goal-scoring experience up top. Teppei Nishi and Luka Laurin Heins round out this year's returning class for the Warriors.

BREAKING DOWN THE WOMEN'S CLASSIC

The women's side of the IHCC Classic will feature four teams over the course of three days. Defending national champion and Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) opponent Iowa Western, ranked No. 1 in the preseason national rankings, opens up the weekend at 3:00 PM on Friday against No. 19 Illinois Central College in a rematch of last year's NJCAA Central District Championship. Iowa Western posted a 19-3-1 record on its way to the title while the Cougars went 16-1-0 overall.

Indian Hills, ranked No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches poll will take on Illinois Central at 11:00 AM on Saturday in the first of two meetings between the two clubs this year. Illinois Central dropped the Warriors twice last year, including a double-overtime thriller at the 2022 IHCC Classic.

The women's classic will also feature national tournament qualifier Motlow State Community College (TN), ranked No. 16 in the preseason national poll. The Bucks, who have qualified for the national tournament in each of the last two years, will face Iowa Western at 1:00 PM Saturday before taking on Indian Hills at 1:00 PM Sunday. The Warriors defeated the Bucks 1-0 last year in Murfreesboro, TN.

HUSSAK'S NOTES

"We are excited to host three of the top teams in the country here opening weekend. I think it's important to have our players in these types of environments so they can understand where we need to be and how our goals align with the competition.

"We are starting off against one of the few regular season undefeated teams in 2022 with Illinois Central. It's going to be an excellent test for our players and how they can come together and work in our system. Javier has done an excellent job at bringing ICC up to a top program over the years. Looking to Sunday, we have Motlow and Coach Andy (Lyon) who have been repeatedly making the national tournament over the last few years. I've known Andy for quite a while and the trajectory that he's taken his program, which is going to be another hard challenge for us."

BREAKING DOWN THE MEN'S CLASSIC

The three-team IHCC Men's Classic will welcome Marshalltown Community College and Southwestern Illinois College. Indian Hills, ranked No. 17 in the NJCAA poll and No. 14 in the United Soccer Coaches poll is set to take on Southwestern Illinois at 5:00 PM Friday while Marshalltown and Southwestern Illinois will meet at 3:00 PM Saturday. Indian Hills and Marshalltown will close out the weekend at 3:00 PM Sunday.

Marshalltown, under fourth-year head coach Raphael Nascimento, is coming off a 6-7-1 record last year and return a pair of goalkeepers in Ryan Flannery and Alexi Neri who combined to start eight matches last year. The Tigers will rely on a bevy of new faces offensively after losing its top three scorers from a year ago.

Second-year head coach Lindsay Eversmeyer will guide Southwestern Illinois into the weekend after an 8-12-0 campaign a year ago. The Blue Storm return five of its top seven scorers from a year ago along with its top keeper in Jordon Shaw who won six of the team's eight games.

VU'S NOTES

We are excited to get going for our season. The competition level of each team will be very high, and we are excited to compete with some of the best teams in the country."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Both Indian Hills teams will head to Overland Park, KS on August 25 for a non-conference match at Johnson County Community College. The women will square off at 5:00 PM followed by the men at 7:00 PM.

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