Marshalltown, IA—A chance at an upset over the No. 1 team in the country fell just short as the Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to visiting Iowa Western Community College, ranked atop this week's NJCAA and NSCAA polls. MCC suffered just its second Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) loss of the year with both coming to the Reivers.
Iowa Western (13-0-0, 7-0-0) headed home the only goal of the game off a corner kick in the 14th minute to score its second win over the Tigers this year. The Reivers defeated MCC 3-0 on Sept. 11. The Tigers had its share of chances throughout the match, including a strike from forward John Krause (Slater, IA/Ballard) that sailed just high of the net.
The Tigers (9-3-1, 5-2-0) entered the game averaging 16.8 shots per game, second in the ICCAC behind Iowa Western's 24.6 per game. The Reivers fired 16 shots over the course of the game, with seven coming on net while the Tigers managed just five shots, with zero coming on net.
Freshman keeper Julian Pena (Muscatine, IA/Muscatine) recorded a career-high six saves on the day, including two from point-blank range in the second half.
In 2012, the Tigers lost two times to the Reivers in the regular season, a 3-0 loss in the first meeting and a 3-2 loss in the final matchup. MCC bounced back to defeat Iowa Western 1-0 in the Region XI Championship.
MCC, ranked 16 in the latest NSCAA poll, will travel to Scott Community College on Oct. 9 for a 4:00 PM ICCAC contest. The Tigers defeated Scott 2-1 on Sept. 17.