Reivers Claim 2022 National Championship

EVANS, GA - Iowa Western Women's Soccer claimed the program's 2nd NJCAA Division 1 national championship on Saturday evening, defeating Salt Lake Community College 1-0 at Blanchard Woods Park.

"It feels great, it's an awesome feeling," said Head Coach Adam Sanchez. "These players played an awesome tournament over these past four games, bought into everything we told them, and just believed we could do this."

"We played very difficult teams, I think we had the toughest path to the final of any team, but they just overcame the challenges and adversity and rose to the top."

Iowa Western (19-3-1) dominated the first half of the match, taking 13 shots to just two by the Bruins.  None, however, found the back of the net until a hand ball in the penalty box gave the Reivers an opportunity to strike in the 37th minute.  Freshman forward Marta Llopis confidently took the penalty kick and buried it in the back of the net.

"I just walked up and sent it in." Said Llopis, "It felt like a lot of weight was lifted when it hit the net."

Defensively, the team was locked in during the first 45 minutes of play but Salt Lake came out fast in the second half, putting pressure on the Reiver defense.  "The back line played great," said Sanchez, "but the front six really worked their butts off to deny any looks to Salt Lake's front three and made it very hard for anything to get through. Just a really good overall team performance. It wasn't our prettiest match, but championship matches rarely are. As we told the group, championships aren't meant to be played, they're meant to be won, and they did what it took to win."

Goalkeeper Bella Washington faced and saved five shots on goal, giving the freshman her 5th shutout of the season.

Council Bluffs native, Hanna Schimmer was named the MVP of the tournament after tallying three goals and an assist during the week. "It's absolutely amazing being here with my family," said Schimmer.  "This team really is my family, our connection grew over this tournament and we fight for each other. Overall it's just amazing and we're crying and we're so proud of each other, we all made this happen."

After starting the season 1-3-1, including a loss to Eastern Florida State, whom the Reivers defeated in the semi-finals, the team rattled off 18 victories in a row, one shy of the school record of 19 set during the 2007 campaign.

"It's a testament to how they bought in and their belief in each other," Sanchez said. "You can see it when we take the field and these girls show how much they care for each other, and I think that's the main thing that carried them through was their willingness to push themselves for each other, fight for each other, and never give up on each other."

SEASON NOTES

This is the 5th time Iowa Western has played in the NJCAA D1 national title game, winning the title in 2013 and finishing as runner-up in 2006, 2007, and 2014.

Iowa Western finished the year with 142 assists, shattering the previous record of 99 set in 2007.

During their 18-game winning streak, the team outscored their opponents 87-9.  Only Eastern Florida State scored more than one goal against the Reivers (in the national semi-final).

Adam Sanchez's record in eight seasons at the helm at Iowa Western now stands at 116-26-7, passing Brad Silvey this season as the winning coach in program history.

The Reivers avenged their 1-0 loss to Salt Lake in last year's national tournament in Daytona, FL.  They also are now 1-1 all-time versus Eastern Florida State in the national tournament, avenging a 4-0 loss to the Titans in pool play in 2017.