Late Goal Sends Reivers to the National Tournament

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - NJCAA No. 2 Iowa Western Men's Soccer defeated No. 7 Indian Hills 2-1 on Saturday night at the Wiebe Sports Complex.

The Reivers (13-1-5) had an early opportunity turned away in the 7th minute after Angel Lopez's penalty kick was saved by the Warriors' Goalkeeper Matteo Malaguti with a diving save to his right. Iowa Western finally found paydirt in the 35th minute when Lopez fed a through-ball to Michael Nduke who broke free and touched the ball underneath the diving Malaguti and into the back of the net, taking a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Indian Hills (9-5-4) found the equalizer less than five minutes into the second half when the Warriors' shot was saved by Goalkeeper Will Devine, but the deflection fell right to the foot of Vittorio Bellesi, who powered it home.

With just 11:30 remaining in the game, Efraims Valutadatils' corner kick found the head of Caden Johnson, and his touch fell to Abdulmuni Abdalla's left foot, and he one-touched it into the far corner for the go-ahead goal.

Iowa Western's defense fended off multiple attacks down the stretch and sealed the victory after one final shot from Indian Hills went wide right.

The Reivers will now head to Daytona, FL for the NJCAA D1 Men's Soccer National Tournament from Nov. 16th to the 22nd.