Freshman Alberto Morales (Granada, Spain/Santa Fe DH) continued to shine for the Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team, scoring two goals to lead the Tigers to a 3-1 victory on the road at Kennedy-King College on Friday afternoon. Morales has scored four goals in his first two career games.
MCC responded to an early deficit for the second straight game after Kennedy-King converted a penalty kick in the 12th minute. The Tigers' answered with a penalty kick of their own as sophomore Daniel Barrera (Naples, FL/Lely) netted his first-career goal, scoring the equalizer in the 17th minute. The score remained tied at one until the 74th minute when Morales scored the go-ahead goal before adding an insurance score in the final seconds.
The Tigers outshot the Statesmen 17-6, including an 8-2 edge on shots on goal. MCC also received 10 corner kicks compared to just two for Kennedy-King.
Rafael Pereira (Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria Vergilio Ferreira) was rarely tested in net for the Tigers, allowing the one penalty kick goal and stopping just one shot. The freshman has allowed just two goals this year, both on penalty kicks.
MCC has now started a season 2-0 in four of the last five years.
In a physical match that saw a total of seven cards, including two reds for the opposition, the Statesmen struck first as Ayuba Azeez beat Pereira on the penalty kick at the 11:56 mark. A hand ball in the Kennedy-King box gave the Tigers a chance to even the score. Barrera, who has played in 20 career games, stepped up and delivered a strike to the upper right corner for his first score.
The second half proved to be a defensive battle in the midfield as neither side was able to find open space in the offensive end. Sergio Beresaluze (Novelda, Spain/Colegio Padre Dehon) had a clean strike on net in the 70th minute but was denied by a diving save from the Statesmen keeper.
Morales finally struck pay-dirt to put the Tigers up 2-1 late in the second half. David Gomez (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) saw plenty of green grass in front of him and attacked the Statesmen defense. The sophomore laid a pass off to a streaking Morales who buried a shot on the far side for the eventual game-winner.
Gomez and Morales linked up for a second time with 40 seconds to play as Gomez sent a low-flying cross from the left side of the Statesmen box. The pass snuck through a crowd and found the foot of Morales who buried the shot to complete his second multi-goal game of the year.
The Tigers will enjoy a day off on Saturday before completing their weekend road trip at Carl Sandburg College at 2:00 PM on Sunday. MCC defeated the Chargers 6-1 in 2014.
