Tullahoma, TN – The Indian Hills Women's Soccer team capped a perfect weekend in Tennessee with a 2-1 win over No. 15 nationally ranked Motlow State Community College (TN). The Warriors closed out the weekend 2-0-0 to move to 6-2-0 overall on the year.
The Warriors erased an early deficit with back-to-back goals to score a win over a nationally ranked opponent for the first time in 40 matches. The Warriors' last victory over an opponent ranked in the top-20 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Women's Soccer poll came on August 28, 2022, a 1-0 win over Motlow State. The Warriors move to 3-0-1 all-time over the Bucks.
The win caps an unblemished weekend for the Warriors in the Volunteer State after defeating Harford Community College (MD) 5-0 in a neutral site contest on Friday afternoon. Indian Hills has now won five of its last six contests while outscoring its opposition 27-6 on the year.
"Incredibly difficult weekend for us as a whole" stated head coach Jon Hussak. "To take another nine-plus hour ride and play two tough east coast teams - I am super proud of our players and the character they are developing as a team.
We went into Harford very focused and intentional. We executed and put a lot of pressure on them, which they had no answer for. We tactically took away their scoring threats and our girls executed well.
Motlow was a different story - they are a very disciplined and organized team with a good coaching staff behind them. Andy (Lyon) has his players always playing their best for him and it is such a challenge year in and year out to figure out his team. They defend well and made it very hard for us to play in spaces we like to play in. Thanks to some resilience and extra effort from our players, we were able to continue to stay on the attack for a majority of the game and put two goals away. Super proud of our players and their accomplishments this weekend as we look to keep the ball rolling into our two away games at Iowa Central and Iowa Lakes."
Trailing 1-0 in the waning minutes of the opening half on Sunday, freshman Nana Tanikawa (Kawasaki, Japan/Takatsu) scored her second goal in three matches in the 41st minute for the equalizer. Tanikawa was on the receiving end of assists from Arnicka Louis (Castries, Saint Lucia/Sir Ira Simmons) and Alexia Bru (Barcelona, Spain/Vall d'Hebrón) as the Warriors went into halftime deadlocked at one.
The Warrior defense continued to clamp down on the Bucks' attack before Louis buried the eventual game-winner at the 55:10 mark. Louis tallied her sixth goal of the year, second-most on the team, on assists from Kiara Levac (Sudbury, Canada/E.S.C. I'Horizon) and Rachel Okoro (Slough, England/Claires Court) as the Warriors held Motlow State scoreless the remainder of the way to push Indian Hills' win streak to three.
Sophomore María Melendez (Aragua, Venezuela/Aragua Estudiantil) picked up the complete game victory for the Warriors, stopping six shots. Melendez ranks second in the nation with six victories in 2024.
The Warriors' road swing continues with a trip to Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, IA on September 18. Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM.
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