The Iowa Western Men's Soccer team capped off another impressive weekend at home with wins over 14th ranked Laramie County Community College and a tough Northeastern Junior College side. During a cloudy and rainy weekend at the Reiver Sports Complex that saw many goals, cautions, and even a rain delay, the Reivers continued their dominating run of form.
On Saturday, the Reivers beat the Golden Eagles of LCCC 9-1, jumping out to a 3-1 halftime lead and never looking back. Though Laramie County was dangerous on the counter attack at several moments in the match, the Reivers controlled possession and were clinical in front of goal, putting 9 of their 13 shots on goal. LCCC also conceded two own goals. Reiver goals were scored by Nicolas Torres (assisted by Eduardo Barros), Theo Le Calve off of a perfectly taken free kick, Damia Viader off of a penalty kick, Mario Magana (assisted by goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat), Eduardo Barros (assisted by Theo Le Calve), Mario Magana (assisted by Theo Le Calve), and Theo Le Calve (assisted by Damia Viader). Theo Le Calve had quite the day with two goals and two assists and had this to say about the performance, "I'm always happy to score and to help my teammates score, but the most important thing was our team's performance. We did well as a team, but we'll keep working harder day by day to improve to another level and keep going."
On Sunday, the Reivers overcame a chippy contest to win 3-1 over the Plainsmen in a match that saw 6 yellow cards and 33 fouls. Fitzroy Cummings started off the scoring for the Reivers in the 17th minute off of a cross by Nicolas Torres that was flicked on by Jacob Lonne. Quinton Kipara then redirected a shot by Theo Le Calve into the back of the net in the 27th minute to push the scoreline to 2-0 before Nicolas Torres scored one of the goals of the season on a diving header off of an intelligent buildup by the Reivers and an excellent cross by Fernando Zaragoza in the 39th minute. Northeastern drew a goal back in the second half when the Reivers were whistled for an accidental handball in the box and Northeastern converted the penalty. Reiver Goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat saved the initial penalty, but the referees ruled that the Plainsmen be allowed to take the kick again and the Plainsmen scored the ensuing penalty. The Reivers put 9 of 14 shots on frame and were unlucky not to have increased the score on multiple occasions in the second half.
Iowa Western head coach Mike Brown had this to say about his team's performance this weekend, "I'm very proud of the boys and their efforts this weekend! We have a lot to clean up on the defensive side, but we will take the next 10 days to improve in every aspect." The Iowa Western Men's Soccer team improved to 6-0 and finished the nonconference slate with a whopping +35 goal differential and will now look forward to their ICCAC opener at Iowa Central Community College September 18th.
