Reivers Tie Blue Devils

Reivers Tie Blue Devils
August 24, 2022

Austin Heinen - THE DAILY NONPAREIL

After two tough losses in a tournament this past weekend, the No. 8 Iowa Western women's soccer still remains in search of its first win of the season.

The Reivers tied the Blue Devils 3-3 at the pitch on the campus of Iowa Western Community College.

"I think we've been a bit exposed these past three games," Reivers coach Adam Sanchez said. "I think there have been things to learn from each game, and hopefully it teaches us to grow. If we can grow from this, then all of this is worth it. If we can't learn then we miss valuable lessons and valuable time.

"We have to stop giving up goals as we have. We just let them back in. We went up 2-0 and gave them a goal, and when you give a decent team a chance and belief, they're going to fight and give you their best and that's what we saw today."

Within the first 15 minutes, the Reivers put two goals on the board as Lou Brossault netted an 11th-minute goal and Paula Boza netted a 13th-minute goal.
 
However, the Blue Devils just four minutes later replied with a goal of their own in the 17th minute of the game, making it 2-1 which is how the score would hold for the rest of the first half.
 
"We're still learning about who we are on the defensive side of the ball," Sanchez said. "We played great going forward, but sort things out defensively."
 
The Blue Devils wasted no time making their move as they scored a 46th-minute goal to tie the game at 2-2. KCK then took its first lead in the 55th minute, only to have the Reivers answer less than two minutes later with a 57th-minute goal by Boza.
 
Iowa Western led the shots 20-10 at the end of regulation, but couldn't break the tie before the end of regulation time, hence the game went into overtime.

After getting two more shots on goal the Reivers had a chance to end the game in the 99th minute with a penalty kick. While Boza put in the PK, an encroachment violation spoiled the potential game-winning goal and ultimately forced a second overtime.

The Reivers again generated multiple opportunities, but could not finish with the game-winning goal thus having to settle for the tie.

"At Iowa Western, we're put on the stage where the administration supports us and the school supports us," Sanchez said. "They give us everything that we need to be super successful. I think part of being grateful and showing gratitude is to leave everything out on the field fight for your teammates and make your teammate look good.

"When that happens we're able to shine at a national level. We have no excuses, people respect Iowa Western and expect big things from Iowa Western and we got to find a way to get better."

Iowa Western will play again on Friday as they go back on the road to face Laramie College at 1 p.m.