COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - The Reivers are headed back to nationals.
NJCAA #1 Iowa Western Women's Soccer defeated Motlow State 3-1 on Saturday afternoon to claim the program's 4th straight district championship. The Reivers (14-0-0) found the back of the net in the 30th minute when forward Lexie Cook juked her defender on the goalline just outside of the box and threaded a ball past three Bucks defenders to forward Oruha Hayashi waiting at the six-yard box, who tucked it into the far side of the net.
Defensively, the Reivers shut down the Bucks (13-3-3) in the first half, not allowing a single shot.
When the teams flipped sides, Iowa Western came out hot, finding goal number two in the first three minutes of the 2nd half. Aika Tobaru played a ball into the box with multiple defenders in the way and the ball bounced right to the foot of Nicole Navarro Aguilar who buried it on one touch. Goal number three came just four minutes later when Hayashi crossed the ball into the box and Forward Marta Llopis was on the backside of the play to head it home.
Motlow State did manage a goal in the 84th minute but the Reivers held on for the victory.
Iowa Western now heads to Wichita, KS for the NJCAA National Tournament that starts on November 12th. The reigning NJCAA D1 national champions will likely enter as the #1 overall seed and look to defend their title.
