JUCO soccer: First golden goal leads to first regional win for IHCC men
Oct. 17—FORT DODGE — Tsubasa Nagaoka headed home the first golden goal in four chances, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Indian Hills men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory at Iowa Central on Saturday. Nagaoka's goal was the first of the season for the freshman, clinching IHCC's first and only regular-season Iowa Community College Athletic Conference win.
Deadlocked at 1-1 in the overtime session, Nagaoka found the back of the net for the first time this season off a corner kick from teammate Galder Gaztelu-Iturri at the 93:46 mark. The Warriors improve to 6-9-2 overall on the year and finish ICCAC play with a 1-6-1, locking IHCC into the fifth seed in the upcoming regional tournament and a trip to either Iowa Central or Marshalltown on Oct. 24 to open postseason play.
Saturday's match saw the Tritons strike first with a goal in the 30th minute. Both sides traded possessions the remainder of the half until Indian Hills found the equalizer with seconds to play before intermission.
Gaztelu-Iturri played a free kick from the left side that found a streaking Pablo Marques for the team's first goal. The score was Marques' team-leading 12th of the year.
The Warriors put together opportunities in the second stanza, but neither side contributed to the scoring column. With seconds to play in regulation, the Tritons broke free into the Warrior box and saw an open net, only for freshman keeper Matteo Scarduzio to make a leaping point-blank save to force overtime.
In the overtime session, the Warriors received two corner kick opportunities, the second proved to be the game-changer. Gaztelu-Iturri swung a shot towards a crowded box and Nagaoka was there for the finish.
The Warriors finished the match with eight shots on goal to the Tritons four. Indian Hills wraps up the regular season at Illinois Central on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
