Peter Huguenin - THE DAILY NONPAREIL
Coming off a national championship, Iowa Western men's soccer showed why they're ranked preseason season No. 1 against No. 18 Illinois Central College at home on Friday in a 6-1 victory. The Reivers scored three goals in the first half with the Cougars' lone goal coming on a defensive mistake from Iowa Western.
"Good and bad," head coach Mike Brown said of his team's performance. "We're still not an elite team yet, but it's the first game. You kind of take it and you go with it."
Sophomore Diego Quintana opened the scoring 10 minutes into the second half scoring after the ball bounced off to the goalie.
A miscommunication between the Iowa Western backline and goalkeeper ended the shutout in the 82nd minute.
"That play can't happen there at the end," Brown said. "You have to get that ball out. ... It's the commitment to the little detalis and the commitment to excellence in the little details. We won 6-1, I'm not going to be ripping them or anything, but we definitely can be better."
"I thought our defensive transition in moments was really good," Brown said. "There were moments that could have been better honestly, but overall I was happy. I just think if we want to be a certain level we have to be better in some areas. But, it's the first game."
Iowa Western is in action next at 1 p.m. on Saturday against Otero College at Lewis Central.
