2025 NJCAA DI MEN'S SOCCER MIDWEST DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
Council Bluffs, IA – No. 10 Indian Hills Men's Soccer earned a hard-fought 2-1 overtime victory No. 11 Illinois Central Community College in the semifinal round of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men's Soccer Midwest District Tournament. The Warriors advance to Saturday's championship match.
Knotted at 1-1 in the extra session, freshman Rafael Posada (Chicago, IL/West Chicago Community) provided the heroics the game-winning goal with under three minutes to play in the first overtime session. Indian Hills advances to its third District title match in the last four seasons.
Indian Hills will now square off against No. 2 nationally ranked Iowa Western Community College in the championship round for the right to earn an automatic bid to the upcoming national tournament. Iowa Western upended Harry S. Truman College (IL) 4-1 Friday night in the other semifinal match to advance to the championship vs. the Warriors Saturday afternoon.
Saturday's match will be the fourth meeting of the year between the two Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) foes. The two sides have each won one contest and tied and additional match for an even regular season. Saturday's winner will earn the automatic bid out of the NJCAA Midwest District while the loser will await a potential at-large bid.
Thursday's contest saw an even matchup between the Warriors and Cougars before Indian Hills put home the game's first score on a Joseph Redmond (Basingstoke, England/Basingstoke Academy) strike. Sophomore Vittorio Bellesi (Breno, Italy/Olivelli Putelli) played a long pass from midfield that found a streaking Redmond in front of the net to put Indian Hills up 1-0.
Illinois Central tallied a second half goal late in the match for the equalizer as the two sides battled to the overtime session. With less than three minutes to play on the clock in the extra frame, freshman Enzo de Almeida (Foz do Iguacu, Brazil/Colegio Silva Batista) delivered a low-lying cross through the box from the right side that found Posada in front of the net. Posada put home the one-touch for the game-winning score that pushed the Warriors to the championship round.
Freshman keeper Matteo Malaguti (Mantova, Italy/Liceo Isabella d'este Mantova) stopped four shots in net to earn the win for the Warriors.
Indian Hills will look to secure its third consecutive trip to the national tournament with a win on Saturday.
NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW
Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Men's Soccer squad all year long through a number of ways:
- X (formerly Twitter): @IHCCAthletics | @IHCCMsoc
- Facebook: Indian Hills Athletics | Indian Hills Men's Soccer
- Instagram: @IHCCMSOC | @IHCCAthletics
- Youtube: Indian Hills Athletics
- Website: www.indianhillsathletics.com
- Catch up with the history of Indian Hills Men's Soccer: Indian Hills Men's Soccer Record Book | Indian Hills Men's Soccer All-Time Awards
- Keep up with former Indian Hills Men's Soccer standouts and where they are now | Next Level Warriors - Indian Hills Men's Soccer
- All home games are played at IHCC Soccer Comlpex on the Indian Hills Ottumwa campus
- Admission to all home matches is free of charge
HOW TO WATCH
As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills home men's soccer games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:
- GoHillsTV App: Download the Iowa Media Network app on your android or ios device and navigate to the GoHillsTV section
- Website: https://www.iowamedianetwork.com/gohillstv to catch all live and archived information
- Roku Streaming Device (new): Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!
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