Women's soccer: No. 15 IHCC scores Sophomore Day win

May 8—OTTUMWA — How do you top the biggest win in program history?

It took at least 45 minutes for 15th-ranked Indian Hills to begin constructing that answer.

Ashlyn Haas scored a pair of second-half goals for the Warrior women's soccer team on Sophomore Day, including a tiebreaking putback in the 55th minute off a strike by Bailey Wiemann that caromed off the inside of the post. Wiemann record a game-high 10 shots, creating the type of offensive havoc that allowed IHCC to score three goals in the second half, closing out the regular season with a 4-1 Iowa Community College Athletic Conference win over Iowa Central on Friday.

"They were living in the past during those first 45 minutes," Indian Hills head women's soccer coach Anthony Longo said. "They were focusing on what we had done and not focusing on the moment. Halftime got a little loud. There's a bit of forceful, colorful talk that I had with them. We got it together, came out and had a great second half."

Indian Hills will take a great half after playing a great full game just two days earlier, resulting in the program's first win over national powerhouse and regional rival Iowa Western. Pulling off the 2-1 over the fourth-ranked Warriors took a lot out of the Warriors with just two days to recover before the Sophomore Day match with the Tritons.

"I think we started out a little fatigued in the first half," IHCC sophomore goalkeeper Elani Mears said. "We kind of re-evaluated what we were doing in the first half and brought that same energy in the second half that we brought against Iowa Western. I think that was really important for this match."

Mears, coming a 13-save effort on Wednesday in the upset of Iowa Western, came up with eight more stops on Friday against Iowa Central. One shot that Mears couldn't stop was a wide-open strike by Julia Herbst in the ninth minute, giving the Tritons an early 1-0 lead.

"I think our girls were kind of living off that high from what happened Wednesday. You can't afford to that against any of the teams at this level," Longo said. "Julia is a good player. She had 20 yards of open space. Good players are going to finish those opportunities every time."

Indian Hills went to work looking to erase the early deficit, answering the strike by Herbst 10 minutes later on a goal by Makayla Reed set up by sophomore Yui Okamoto. Okamoto would finish with two assists on Friday after being honored along with fellow IHCC sophomore soccer players Berenice Ruiz-Aviles, Alex Solano, Avery Woldruff, Mears, Madison K. Meyer and Georgia Lindon.

"I was excited about this class when I brought them in two years ago. That record of 24-3-2, never having lost a match out of conference and never having lost a match at home — they've done their job as group. It's been an awesome class. I'm definitely going to miss them, but I hope we've got a few more weeks together."

The next group of sophomores, however, led the offensive charge on Friday. While Haas and Reed scored three of IHCC's four goals on Friday, Wiemann took charge offensively leading the runs down the field resulting in numerous scoring opportunities.

"I think I've gained a lot of confidence on the ball. I've improved with my skills to move the ball and we were a little bit faster than (Iowa Central's) defense," Wiemann said. "I think everyone at the start was a little tired after the effort we gave against Iowa Western, but we were able to jump back on it in the second half and took it up a level."

Wiemann consistent runs at the net would not result in a goal for the Burlington freshman, but did create the chances that would result in Indian Hills opening a 3-1 lead with less than 17 minutes left. Wiemann's closest strike to going in the net bounced perfectly off the ball to Haas, who hammered home the ball into a wide-open net less than 10 minutes into the second half giving Indian Hills a lead they would not relinquish.

"I saw Bailey cross it and I tried to position myself for the ball to possibly be punched back out," Haas said of her go-ahead goal. "I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time. I passed it into the corner of the net to finish it off."

Wiemann appeared to have finally scored with 16:37 left after taking a pass on a run by Okamoto before charging the net. Iowa Central's late bid to prevent Wiemann from getting off a clean strike, however, helped send the ball into the net resulting in the ruling of an own goal by the Triton defense, putting IHCC up 3-1.

"It's both frustrating and thrilling. I want to score the goal, but the ultimate goal is for the team to score no matter how it happens," Wiemann said.

Indian Hills wraps up the regular season with a record of 10-1-1, including a 9-1-1 record in ICCAC play this season. The Warriors will either face Iowa Lakes (2-8) or Iowa Central (5-5) next Saturday in the regional semifinals in Ottumwa.

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.