2016 Region XI Tournament Bracket
Marshalltown, IA—Two first half goals from Kino Ryosuke (Hyogo, Japan/Takigawadaini) were complimented by a barrage of scores in the second half as the No. 14 Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team defeated Dakota County Technical College 6-0 in the quarterfinal round of the Region XI Tournament on Wednesday.
With Wednesday's win, the second-seeded Tigers advance to face No. 3 seed Iowa Lakes Community College at 2:00 PM in the Region XI Tournament semifinal round. Top-seeded Iowa Western Community College will take on No. 5 seed Iowa Central Community College, also at 2:00 PM at the Cownie Soccer Park. All four teams have reached the semifinal round each of the last three seasons.
Despite not scoring for the first 27 minutes of the match, the Tigers displayed their offensive prowess early and often against the Blue Knights on Wednesday afternoon. Ryosuke got the Tigers on the board at the 27:44 mark on a penalty kick. The freshman tacked on another after Andre Santos (Lisbon, Portugal/Externato Seneca) found Ryosuke's head on a cross from the right side just over a minute later.
Freshman Antonio Savi (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio PH) extended the Tiger lead in the early portions of the second half, burying a pass from Jose Moreno (Cordoba, Spain/I.E.S. Blas Infante) in the 64th minute. Savi matched Ryosuke's two-goal performance on the day with his second score in the 73rd minute on an assist from Eneko Lasheras (Tudela, Spain/Benjamin de Tudela).
Less than two minutes later Moreno was on the receiving end of a lob pass from Lasheras to put MCC up 5-0. Sophomore Sirleaf Wiah (Brooklyn Park, MN/Prairie Seeds) closed out the scoring in the 85th minute on a combination of passes from Ryosuke and freshman Roger De la Villa (Barcelona, Spain/Escola Sant Gregori).
Sophomore Rafael Pereira (Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria Vergilio Ferreira), this week's Iowa Communty College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Goalkeeper of the Week, stopped just one shot on net for the Tigers.
PEREIRA EARNS SEVENTH-CAREER ICCAC WEEKLY AWARD
The Tigers dominated every facet of the game on Wednesday, outshooting the Blue Knights 47-1, including a 16-1 edge on shots on goal. The 47 shots are a season-high for the Tigers. MCC also tallied eight corner kicks without allowing one to Dakota County.
MCC has now eliminated Dakota County from each of the last two Region XI Tournaments. The Tigers defeated the Blue Knights 6-1 in last year's quarterfinal round.
The Tigers' next opponent, Iowa Lakes, defeated No. 6 seed North Iowa Area Community College in postseason action on Wednesday. MCC and the Lakers split the regular season series in 2015 with both team's winning on the road.
In other tournament action, Iowa Western defeated Northeast Community College 3-0 while Iowa Central scored a 2-1 overtime victory over No. 4 seed Indian Hills Community College.
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