Hosting regional quarterfinal at Ames Soccer Complex
By shutting out Iowa Lakes Community College 2–0 in Spirit Lake, Iowa, Saturday, Oct. 24, the DCTC Blue Knights men’s soccer team tied with North Iowa Area Community College for third place in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference, or ICCAC.
The Knights will host Indian Hills Community College Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 12 p.m. at the Ames Soccer Complex in the quarterfinal game of the NJCAA Region XI tournament.
The men completed the regular season with a 14–5–1 record, which stands as the best record in the team’s six-season history. The NJCAA and ICCAC have seeded DCTC fourth in the region with Indian Hills seeded fifth. Earlier in the season, the Knights dropped the Warriors at home 2–0.
Tuesday’s game marks the second consecutive year that DCTC has played Indian Hills in the playoffs. Last season, DCTC defeated Indian Hills 3–2 in overtime. In the semifinal game, eventual Region XI champion, Iowa Western Community College, eliminated the Knights via a penalty kick shootout.
DCTC would like the chance to again face first-seed IWCC, which took home the 2009 ICCAC championship with a 9–3 conference record and a 14–4 record overall. The Reivers received a bye going into the Region XI semifinal, which is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 31, at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. IWCC beat the Knights twice this season, 0–1 at home and 0–3 in Iowa, in harshly contested, physical games.
“This will be the third time we play Indian Hills this year,” reported Head Coach Cam Stoltz, regarding the quarterfinal against the Warriors, who finished the season 5–9. “We were fortunate to come away with two wins so far. The Warriors are an upbeat program and can play well. It’s very difficult to beat a team three times in a season—and we don’t expect an easy game.”
