Marshalltown, IA—The No. 9 Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team suffered a 2-0 defeat to Iowa Central Community College on Saturday afternoon at home. Eight sophomores were honored prior to the start of the match as part of Sophomore Day at MCC.
The Tigers allowed a goal late in the first half and Iowa Central was able to tack on an insurance goal in the closing minute to upset the nationally ranked Tigers. The loss snapped a four-match winning streak against Iowa Central for MCC.
The sophomore class consisting of Artur Aguiar (Fortaleza, Brazil/7 de Setembro), Thiago Fernandes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Dom Oton Mota), Fernando Gutierrez (Ibiza, Spain/I.E.S. Algarb), Miguel Jareno (Ubeda, Spain/I.E.S. Lopez-Neyra), Pedro Oliveira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Estadual), Rafael Pereira (Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria Vergilio Ferreira), John Spells (Round Rock, TX/Round Rock), and Sirleaf Wiah (Brooklyn Park, MN/Prairie Seeds) were recognized before their final regular season home game. The sophomore class has combined to win 29 games over the last two years.
MCC controlled possession for much of the first half, but the Tritons took advantage of a corner kick and headed home the game's first goal in the 29th minute. The Tigers fired five shots in the opening half but trailed at intermission 1-0.
With both team's playing a man down following a pair of red cards in the first half, the Tigers looked to seize any scoring opportunity that came their way in the second half. MCC's best chance came in the 82nd minute as freshman Kino Ryosuke (Hyogo, Japan/Takigawadaini) fired a free kick from 20 yards out, but the Triton keeper was able to deflect the shot in the upper right corner.
The Tigers continued to pressure in the closing minutes, but Iowa Central was able to convert a breakaway goal with under a minute to play to put the match out of reach.
Pereira made three saves in net for the Tigers. MCC put eight shots on net compared to the Tritons' five. The Tigers earned five corner kicks in the match opposed to just one for Iowa Central.
MCC has two regular season road matches remaining before the Region XI Tournament. The Tigers head to Hawkeye Community College on Oct. 18. MCC defeated the Redtails 7-1 at home on Sept. 20.
