Women's soccer: Indian Hills stymied by Lakers

Sep. 27—OTTUMWA — Abbie Bailey's shot had nothing but open net in front of it.

Dare Kroeten fired the type of shot she had taken 10 times before in her two years at Indian Hills that had each resulted in goals for the Warrior women's soccer team.

The chances were there for IHCC on Sunday against Iowa Lakes. The Warriors finished with a 19-8 advantage in total shots, including the best chances in the final 20 minutes to at least answer a goal late in the first half scored by the Lakers. Both Bailey and Kroten were denied potential game-tying goals by Laker freshman goalkeeper Michelle Granja as Iowa Lakes denied IHCC a win at home, knocking off the Warriors 1-0 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) action.

"It's a frustrating day. It's very disappointing," Indian Hills head women's soccer coach Ulysus Torres said. "You look at the course of the 90 minutes and you look at the team that comes out on top. It's not fully deserved, but that's the game. That's soccer. You have to take it, accept it, learn from it and move on."

Despite a 9-3 edge in shots in the first half for IHCC, both sides played scoreless soccer for nearly 39 full minutes. Iowa Lakes was able to capitalize on a turnover by Indian Hills creating a scoring chance for Adriel Schultzen, scoring on just the second shot of the match for the Lakers with 5:18 left in the first half, giving Iowa Lakes a 1-0 lead.

"You have to be able to use the most out of the chances you create," Torres said. "That's soccer to a T. You can play good futbol and create, but if you don't have the one to put in the back of the net, it's tough. It puts a lot of pressure on the entire team."

The Warriors continued to put on the press in hopes of tying the match, adding 10 more shots in the second half. Iowa Lakes was able to counter IHCC's offensive press more in the final 45 minutes, forcing Warrior freshman goalkeeper Sara Cogoli to make three saves while overcoming another home match that included a second-half collision that left Cogoli bruised up after another physical 90 minutes.

Iowa Lakes (7-1, 1-0 ICCAC) was unable, however, to put a second goal past Cogoli keeping IHCC in the match all the way to the end. Bailey's open shot at the top of the box with 15 minutes left required Granja to make a diving stop across the net to keep the score tied.

Kroeten, however, came even closer to finally putting a ball into the goal for the Warriors firing a shot in the 81st minute high enough to avoid Granja, but not low enough to avoid striking the crossbar. The ball ricocheted back and forth between Granja, the bar and the ground staying just outside the goal line as the Warriors were denied the game-tying goal by a matter of inches.

"I was hoping that it maybe crossed the line, but you just never know," Kroeten said. "I have no idea how it didn't go in. All I saw when I hit it was the ball going into the net. I didn't see it doing anything else."

Less than a minute later, Bailey fired another shot that sailed just over the Iowa Lakes net. Mickey Stephens, the team's leading goal scorer with eight so far this season, had a run to the goal that resulted in a strike that hit the side of the net on what proved to be the last shot on goal IHCC would muster in the final minutes.

"Nothing fell in our favor," Stephens said. "We had plenty of chances. We just didn't capitalize."

Sunday's match was the sixth one-goal contest for the Warriors this year. Indian Hills is 4-2-0 in those games.

Next up for the Warriors (8-3, 1-1 ICCAC) is a date with ninth-ranked Iowa Western on Wednesday at Council Bluffs. The two sides who have battled for ICCAC championships and national tournament berths every season for the past six years will square off again in Council Bluffs with kickoff following the men's match at approximately 3:30 p.m.

"It goes by so quickly that I haven't had a chance to think about it," Torres said of Wednesday's match. "The girls are competitors. They want to win every single time they step out on the field. They hold themselves to a high standard. We can't get too low because we have, arguably, our most important match of the year coming up on Wednesday."

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.