Marshalltown, IA—Paired with an early season loss and a crucial setback on Tuesday afternoon, the No. 3 Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team rebounded to take down Indian Hills Community College 2-0 at home on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers improved to 10-2-1 overall and 9-2-1 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play.
The Warriors handed MCC its first loss of the year on Sept. 17, a 2-1 defeat to snap a 25-match regular season unbeaten streak for the Tigers. After suffering a 4-0 defeat to Iowa Lakes Community College at home on Tuesday, the Tigers came out hungry on Saturday afternoon.
Having allowed four goals for the first time in more than five years on Tuesday, the stingy Tiger defense answered its challenge with a shutout of the Warriors.
The defense was provided an early edge after freshman David Kromah (Brooklyn Park, MN/Prairie Seeds) received a long pass from midfield from Jose Izarra (Naguanagua, Venezuela) in the 14th minute. Kromah gathered the pass and beat a series of defenders in the box and buried a right-footed shot into the bottom corner for the early lead.
The back line defense kept the Warriors' scoring chances to a minimum throughout the first half and carried the one-goal margin into the halftime break.
Just 2:12 into the second half, the Tigers were awarded a penalty kick after sophomore Sirleaf Wiah (Brooklyn Park, MN/Prairie Seeds) was taken down inside the Indian Hills box. Sophomore Artur Aguiar (Fortaleza, Brazil/7 de Setembro) stepped up and baffled the Warrior keeper with a shot to the right side, giving the Tigers a 2-0 edge.
The Warrior offense came to life late in the second half as sophomore goalkeeper Rafael Pereira (Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria Vergilio Ferreira) was tested on back-to-back point-blank shots inside the box late in the second frame. Pereira knocked away both attempts to preserve the shutout. The defense controlled the opposition the rest of the way to get the Tigers back on the winning track.
Pereira stopped three shots on goal on the afternoon to earn the shutout, the sophomore's 16th career shutout.
Next up for the Tigers is a trip to Scott Community College at 4:00 PM on Wednesday afternoon. MCC defeated the Eagles (0-15-0/0-13-0) 7-0 in the team's opening math of the season on August 27.
