Marshalltown, IA—Freshman Juan Carrillo (Cordoba, Spain/CES Lope de Vega) proved why he was chosen as this week's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Offensive Player of the Week. The striker scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime as the Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team defeated conference rival Iowa Central Community College 3-2 on Tuesday afternoon.
Carrillo, who tallied five points in a 10-0 victory over Indian Hills last week to earn the conference honor this week, scored the first goal of the game in the fifth minute and assisted on Celes Vilar's (Las Palmas, Spain/Claret-Corazon) goal four minutes later to give MCC a convincing 2-0 lead early on. The Tritons rallied in the second half, netting two goals, including a score in the 87th minute to tie the game at two, setting up Carrillo's heroics in the extra session.
Less than a minute into overtime, the freshman received a pass from the middle of the field from sophomore Ralph Duopu (Crystal, MN/Armstrong). Carrillo corralled the pass and beat the last line of defense before chipping a shot over the outstretched arms of the Iowa Central keeper to give the Tigers their fifth straight victory. MCC improves to 9-2-1 overall and 5-1-0 in the ICCAC. The Tritons fall to 6-4-0 and 3-2-0 in conference play, dropping 1.5 games behind the second-place Tigers.
In a game that saw eight yellow cards and an ejection for the Iowa Central head coach, the Tigers struck early on to set the tone. MCC pressured down the right side of the field and the ball wound up on the foot of Marcus Boehler (Virginia Beach, VA/Niles C. Kinnick) deep in Tritons territory. Boehler dribbled into the box and played a pass back to a streaking Carrillo who fired a shot that struck the cross bar and found its way to the back of the net to put MCC up 1-0.
Carrillo and the Tiger offense built off the early goal and continued to pressure the Iowa Central defense. In the ninth minute MCC was awarded a corner kick and head coach Rafael Martinez called upon Carrillo. The freshman placed a right-footed drive to Vilar who buried his first goal of the year to give MCC a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers held onto the lead entering the second half despite a strong attack from the Tritons. Iowa Central finally broke through in the 61st minute, capitalizing on an MCC turnover in its defensive third of the field to cut the deficit in half. The Tritons knotted the game after a scramble in the box led to a shot that snuck past MCC keeper Julian Pena (Muscatine, IA/Muscatine).
The late goal from Iowa Central set the stage for Carrillo who scored his team-leading ninth goal of the year in the extra session. Carrillo now ranks first in the ICCAC in assists (8) and points (26). The freshman ranks second in goals behind Iowa Central's Abelson Estimable, who the Tigers' defense was able to keep scoreless on Tuesday.
"I thought we started the game very well," said Martinez. "With great intensity and movement of the ball. We created several good chances and felt very good about ourselves after the second goal."
The match totaled 48 fouls on the day. The Tritons controlled the shots category, 16-10, with 11 coming in the second half.
Martinez realized a change needed to be made to withstand a strong attack from the Tritons. "They continued to put pressure on us in the second half which called for an adjustment. Their last goal put us down in a hole, but our players responded like I was hoping- with personality and determination. Juan had a great game and solved the one on one situation with talent and courage. I am confident that we will continue to grow as a team."
MCC will carry its five-game ICCAC winning streak into a rematch with undefeated and No. 3 nationally ranked Iowa Western Community College on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers lost on the road to the Reivers 3-0 on Sept. 11.
The Tigers remain in the Also Receiving Votes category this week with the latest NJCAA Division I poll set to be released on Wednesday.
