Home field playoff at stake going into final two weeks
The DCTC Blue Knights men’s soccer team toppled the Iowa Central Community College Tritons2–1 in the second game of the season series, playing in less-than-desirable conditions Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Ames Soccer Complex on the college’s Rosemount campus.
The Knights came out with a strong wind at their backs and pressed the Tritons for two first-half goals. After switching ends, ICCC, which at the time held second place in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference, or ICCAC, gained one back and pressed to tie, but came up short, allowing DCTC to avenge a 4–1 loss at Fort Dodge, Iowa, early in the season.
Freshman Midfielder Darren Glenn drew first blood, scoring off a DCTC corner kick. Freshman Midfielder Rodrigo Galvan added another DCTC goal with two minutes to go in the first half.
“We knew if we were going to get in the net, we needed to do it first thing in the first half,” said DCTC Head Coach Cam Stoltz. “We took some chances and put people on top to get in scoring position. We felt some urgency in the first half knowing that ICCC is a strong team and would take it to our goal when they had the wind in the second half.”
Eight minutes into the second half, DCTC came close to making it 3–0 when Freshman Forward Dylan Urban was taken down for an apparent penalty kick, but the center official failed to call a foul. On the immediate counterattack, the Tritons scored to pull within one goal at 2–1.
DCTC held on, keeping the ball out of their penalty area while relying on goalkeeping and counter possession in the midfield. Iowa Central, which dropped to third place in the ICCAC, showed some frustration, receiving two red-card ejections later in the second half and finishing with nine players to DCTC’s 11.
Now 5–5–1 in ICCAC and 8–7–1 overall, DCTC next plays Indian Hills Community College at home at the Ames Soccer Complex 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14. A win would inch the Knights closer to a home playoff quarterfinal.
