Mason City, IA—Sophomore Thiago Fernandes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Dom Oton Mota) unleashed a shot from 25 yards out late in the second half to give the No. 3 Marshalltown Community College soccer team a 1-0 victory over North Iowa Area Community College on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers extend their winning streak to six games.
MCC improved to 9-1-0 overall on the year and 8-1-0 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play with the win. The Trojans fell to 3-8-0 overall and 2-8-0 in the ICCAC.
With just under 20 minutes to play on Saturday, Fernandes found an opening in the middle of the field and dribbled through space to beat the Trojan defense. The sophomore teed up a shot from 25 yards out and found the back of the net for the game-winning goal. The goal was Fernandes' third of the 2016 season.
MCC head coach Rafael Martinez was pleased with the defensive effort in a hard-fought match on Saturday. "Our defense played great and limited the opposition's scoring chances to corner kicks."
"It was a good game in which I thought we dominated ball possession and scoring opportunities," Martinez added. "Their defense and goalkeeper stopped many of our chances but couldn't stop a good shot from outside of the box by Thiago. It was important for us to get this win and prepare for our next match against Iowa Western. We look forward to the challenge of playing another big game with the Reivers."
MCC will welcome a week off before traveling to Council Bluffs, IA to take on Iowa Western Community College. The Tigers defeated the Reivers, ranked No. 3 at the time, 2-0 at home on Sept. 17.
The Tigers put six shots on net on Saturday compared to five from the Trojans. Sophomore Rafael Pereira (Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria Vergilio Ferreira) stopped all five shots to earn the shutout, his fifth of the season and 15th in his career.
