OTTUMWA — Last season was one that will always be remembered in the history of the Indian Hills men’s soccer program.
Zach Newton, however, wants his current Warrior soccer team to remember that it was last season. This season, other than three matches, Indian Hills hasn’t won yet.
The Warriors third win of the season came at home on Friday against a winless Lincoln Trail squad. Just six days removed from suffering their first loss of the season, IHCC needed a goal with under eight minutes left to secure a 3-2 victory over the Trailblazers, overcoming a spirted effort by the visitors and a less-than-spirited effort for the first 82 minutes and 34 seconds.
“We played terribly,” Newton said. “We stooped down to another team’s level. No offense to Lincoln Trail, but we gave them the confidence to play better. We were lucky that we didn’t fall behind. We would have deserved to fall behind.”
The Warriors found themselves locked in a scoreless tie after one half, failing to capitalize on early scoring chances allowing Lincoln Trail to hang around. Jules Dufour was able to find the back of the net twice in the second half for Indian Hills, heading in the ball off a free kick by Noah Liebl in the 50th minute before connecting on a penalty kick just over six minutes later.
Each goal by Dufour, however, was quickly answered by a goal from Lincoln Trail. Jeykol Mosquera tied the match at 1-1 in the 53rd minute before Arian Rodriguez found the back of the net in the 59th minute as the Trailblazers tied the match twice less than three minutes after giving up the go-ahead goal.
“It was a poor performance on both ends,” Newton said. “In terms of crossing situations, they wanted the ball more. They were more organized. When they were transitioning, they pushed forward numbers and we were just going at our pace.”
The Trailblazers (0-2-1) just missed on a shot for the lead high over the Warrior goal with under 15 minutes left. Just over five minutes later, Leo Morley-Robertson finally found the back of the net with what proved to be the game-winning goal scoring off a pass from Jacob Klein on a run to the net.
“It’s kind of the same with every game. We seem to dominate and start fast, but we can’t seem to sustain it,” Morley-Robertson said. “To finish with a match with 17 shots and only wind up with three goals is not good, but I’d rather have this happening at the beginning of the season instead of at the end.”
Indian Hills got a reminder of what can happen with a less than stellar effort against one of the best teams in the country. Second-ranked Daytona State College scored just seven seconds after the opening kickoff on the way to a 4-2 win over the formerly top-ranked Warriors in a rematch of last season’s national championship match.
“These guys haven’t achieved anything yet,” Newton said. “They have to have the mindset that we have to earn it. We just go out there with the mentality that we’re national champions and everyone’s going to play down. Teams are stepping up against us.
“Last year’s team was national champs. This year’s team isn’t national champs. Right now, this team has not consistently played well enough to become national champions.”
Indian Hills (3-1-3) is back home on Friday to host Southwestern Illinois. Kick off is approximately 3:30 p.m.
About the Author
