Marshalltown, IA—Two first half goals secured an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) win for the No. 17 Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team as freshman Rafael Pereira (Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria Vergilio Ferreira) pitched a shutout in net for the Tigers. With the win, MCC improves to 5-0-0 and 2-0-0 in league play.
Sergio Beresaluze (Novelda, Spain/Colegio Padre Dehon) and Alberto Morales (Granada, Spain/Santa Fe DH) found the back of the net within the first 30 minutes of play as MCC controlled possession throughout the match to ensure the victory. Pereira, this week's ICCAC Goalie of the Week, made three saves all in the second half for the clean sheet.
MCC outshot the Warriors 21-5 on the day, including a 10-0 advantage in the first half. The Tigers have now taken 117 total shots on the year, third-most among all NJCAA teams. MCC also served up nine corner kicks and now tops the nation with 43 on the year.
The Tigers, who climbed to No. 17 in this week's NJCAA and NSCAA Division I polls, is off to its best start since 2007, a team that started the year 8-0-0. The 2007 squad reached the national tournament and finished third in the nation that season.
Beresaluze put the Tigers on the board in the 10th minute as fellow freshman Adrian Gomez (Ponteareas, Spain/Aceimar) slipped a pass through the right side of the Indian Hills (1-4-0/0-2-0) defense. Beresaluze corralled the pass and fired a shot on net for his second goal of the season. Gomez has now assisted on a goal in three straight matches and his four total assists lead the conference.
Morales continued to shine in his rookie season as the freshman scored his conference-leading sixth goal in the 28th minute. Sophomore David Gomez (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) sent in a corner kick from the left side that found the foot of Fernando Gutierrez (Ibiza, Spain/I.E.S. Algarb). Gutierrez slid a pass through a crowded box and Morales was able to finish the shot to complete the scoring.
Pereira was tested late in the second half, but the freshman had little trouble in net, giving the Tigers' their second straight shutout.
"Overall, it was a good win," stated MCC head coach Rafael Martinez. "It's been a good start to the season for us. We had several good chances today, we hit the cross bar early on and had some good looks at the end there. It's a positive win for us, but I look for us to continue to grow as a team. For that to happen we need everyone to pull together and give their very best."
Next up for the Tigers is conference foe Scott Community College. MCC will travel to Bettendorf, IA to take on the Eagles (1-3-0/1-1-0) at 2:00 PM on Saturday.
