SPRINGFIELD, IL – No. 12-rated Indian Hills stepped out of conference play for the one and only time it will do so this spring season on Monday, and the results were positive again for the Warriors as IHCC remained unbeaten with a 6-0 blanking of Lincoln Land Community College.

Indian Hills now has four shutouts in eight outings in 2021 and has recorded the second-best start in program history with a 7-0-1 record (2019 – 11-0-1).  In total, IHCC has surrendered just four goals all season and the Warriors haven't allowed more than a single goal to be scored in any one contest thus far.

Coach Anthony Longo's squad had it working on both ends of the field from the jump on Monday as the Warriors posted a pair of goals early, and kept adding on.  Freshman Risa Ogasawara netted her fifth goal of the season off a pass from Bailey Wiemann in the sixth minute of play to set the tone and Yui Okamoto took an assist from Ashley Haas and stuck it in goal just a minute later to make it 2-0, Warriors.

"It was great to see the team come out strong and get a lead quickly," noted Longo.  "That is a message we have been trying to get through to the group.  We need to take advantage of chances and get teams on their heels right off the start.  The ladies did well with that."

Sophomore Avery Woldruff moved the lead to 3-0 in the 37^th minute off a pass from Kylee Brown and the Warriors would take that advantage into the intermission.

"We moved the ball very well today," Longo added.  "Passing, player movements, and going forward at defenders were all things that stood out.  It was a great team performance."

Wiemann and Okamoto were busy again in the second stanza as the pair both would end the day with a goal and two assists.  Wiemann hit Hass with an assist in the 61^st minute to make it 4-0 and Okamoto assisted on the Warriors' final two goals, finding Wiemann for her fifth goal of the season in the 65^th minute, and K.J. Schmidt for her team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 76^th minute to make it 6-0.

"Yui and Bailey were great all over the field today," Longo said. "Those two really stood out offensively."

While the Loggers (0-4) didn't mount much of an attack on IHCC with only three shots on goal for the entire contest, Longo credited his team's defensive effort.

"The backline and goalie Lani Mears were on top of things when it mattered," Longo said.  "Lincoln Land had a couple of really nice offensive players, but we really limited their chances, and didn't let them get things going."

The win sets up an ICCAC showdown on Thursday in Council Bluffs as the Warriors will make a return trip west after having its first matchup with Iowa Western postponed back on April 17.  The No. 4-rated Reivers are 7-0 and have outscored their opponents 36-0 this season.

"This is the matchup we have been looking forward to. Iowa Western is always the toughest test of the year, and I think this group is really coming together at the right time," Longo said. "Western has been putting up impressive results, so we know it's going to be a great challenge as always. We have a great game plan for Thursday, and we look forward to going against a top-five team."

Two of the next three contests for the Warriors come against the highly-touted Reivers as Indian Hills will host Iowa Western next Wednesday, May 5 at IHCC Field.

"These are the games where we find out what kind of team we are," Longo said.

Game time Thursday is set for 1 p.m.

 Scoring Summary

Period  Time  Team Play                                                         V-H

1^st         6:00    IH       Risa Ogasawara (from Bailey Wiemann)   1-0

1^st         7:00    IH       Yui Okamoto (from Ashlyn Haas)             2-0

1^st        37:00   IH       Avery Woldruff (from Kylee Brown)          3-0

2^nd        61:00   IH       Ashlyn Hass (from Bailey Wiemann)        4-0

2^nd        65:00   IH       Bailey Wiemann (from Yui Okamoto)       5-0

2^nd        76:00   IH       K.J. Schmidt (from Yui Okamoto)            6-0