Council Bluffs, IA: Iowa Western beat visiting Hawkeye CC 4-1 in the NJCAA Region XI Semifinal at the Reiver Athletic Complex to advance to the championship match..
How It Happened: After upsetting the Hawks of Northeast last Saturday in OT in the Region Quarterfinal, the #5 Redtails were looking to repeat that result in Council Bluffs. They sat back and absorbed the Reiver attack and looked to counter through their sophomore star Chloe Allen. However, the Reivers got on the board in the 22nd minute off a well worked corner kick that saw freshman Lina Jaime find Laura Linares for a header finish to make it 1-0. 5 minutes later, captain Moriah Lucas doubled the Reiver advantage. Iowa Western won the ball in the midfield and kept possession and was able to find sophomore defender McKenna Banks down the right flank. Banks got in to the attacking third and found Lucas at the top of the penalty box. Lucas cut inside and finished top shelf. The Reivers would threaten a few more times, but the half concluded 2-0.
The RedTails were able to get an early goal through Allen after the break, but freshman Sophie Hoban drew a foul inside the box. Sophomore captain Estefania Cardona dispatched the ensuing penalty kick to regain the 2 goal advantage. In the 79th minute, Jaime put the game out of reach with a wonderfully placed free kick from 25 yards out. From there, the Reivers would see out the game for the 4-1 result.
Notes & Numbers: Iowa Western improves to 12-4-0. The Reivers qualify for their 14th straight region championship match in their 16th year. Lucas adds to her team-leading goal tally with 10 goals on the season.
Quotes: Coach Adam Sanchez: "I thought the team was absolutely fantastic today! We attacked how we wanted to attack and defended well. Hawkeye is a much improved program and I felt they were up for it. However, we executed how we wanted to play extremely well. We were excited for the match because we knew it was going to be a good one, perhaps one of the most difficult matches of the season. The team prepared well and, today, they were rewarded for their efforts. We are super excited to be in the championship on Saturday."
Up Next: With the win, the Reivers set-up a championship final with the 19th nationally-ranked Indian Hills CC on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at the Reiver Complex. Kick-off is scheduled for 2 pm. The match can be viewed live at http://goreivers.com/information/reiver-sports-network. Match updates can be found on Twitter at @ReiverWSoccer & @GoReivers.
