JUCO soccer: IHCC Classic opens season
Aug. 18—OTTUMWA — Seven matches are on deck over the extended opening weekend of junior college soccer.
Six of those matches will feature at least one nationally-ranked team, including all four matches featuring the Indian Hills men and women's squad. Three days full of action on the pitch beginning with a postseason rematch will close out with a renewal of what is now a former Iowa Community College Athletic Conference rivalry as Marshalltown faces the 17th-ranked Warrior men in the only meeting between the teams with the Tigers moving down to NJCAA Division II.
"We're still a little clunky. That's natural being that we've only been together for just over two weeks," IHCC head men's soccer coach Felix Vu said. "Step by step, game by game. That's what I tell the guys all the time. All they can do is show up day in and day out."
The Warrior men and women both kick off new eras for each soccer program with Vu and IHCC women's head coach Jon Hussak debuting on the sidelines. The Indian Hills women will challenge themselves in a home tournament featuring three top-20 squads with top-ranked defending national champion and IHCC's regional rival Iowa Western joining the Warriors to compete against No. 16 Motlow State and No. 19 Illinois Central.
The top-ranked Reivers opened the tournament facing Illinois Central in a district championship rematch. Iowa Western earned a trip to national tournament with a 5-0 win over the Cougars in a battle of teams that had won 30 of 34 matches through regional postseason play.
"It's going to be an awesomely competitive opening weekend," Hussak said.
The Warrior women will be diving right into the deep end this season, facing two opponents ranked in the top 20. After taking on No. 19 Illinois Central on Saturday morning in the first of three matches that will be played during the day on IHCC's on-campus soccer field, Indian Hills will face 16th-ranked Motlow State on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The Indian Hills women return seven members of last year's NJCAA Region XI runner-up team. Sophomore Sara Cogoli brings experience in the net, Kenya Lee earned All-Region honors, Shay Polson and Milena Leon combined for 30 starts and nine assists on the pitch last season for the Warriors.
"The competition is hard, but we need to stay focused as a team," Cogoli said. "I like the transition we've made as a team going into this season. I think it will give us a better chance for us to be able to put goals on the scoreboard."
The Indian Hills men, meanwhile, will be the only ranked team in their three-team tournament. The Warriors, coming off a regional championship run last season, enters the season ranked 17th in the NJCAA Division I men's soccer poll.
"We are excited to get going for our season," Vu said. "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."
Indian Hills wrapped up a perfect preseason on Tuesday, winning 5-1 over William Penn in the last 'friendly' exhibition. The match provided Vu a perfect teaching moment to his squad as the Statesmen scored their only goal in the final seconds of the second of three 30-minute periods cutting IHCC's lead to 3-1.
"I told the guys going into the match that we were going to go in conceding a set piece like that. We were too lackadaisical in our training and I knew we were going to concede a goal with the way William Penn was playing," Vu said. "I just reminded them that, even though we were up by three goals, it doesn't matter. We need to focus each minute as it comes by."
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.
As for Indian Hills, 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.
Gustavo Marques brings goal-scoring experience up top for the Warriors. Teppei Nishi and Luka Laurin Heins round out this year's returning class for Indian Hills.
"There are no easy games in college soccer," Vu said. "We're expecting a battle and a good fight. We are not the same squad we were last year. This will be a young squad, but for me I've told the guys it doesn't matter if we're starting out ranked 17th or first in the country. At the end of the day, our goal is to put on a good performance."
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
