IMS falls to Holy Trinity in the SEISC tournament's title match

No. 8 IMS lost to fifth-ranked Holy Trinity in the championship match of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference tournament on Saturday.

IMS opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over Danville on Friday night at home. Senior Dillon Bender scored a pair of goals and had an assist, and junior Enrique Sanchez had a goal and two assists. Junior Reggie Hostetler rounded out the scoring with a goal. The back line of Justin Boller, Cody Miller, Jameson Lammer and Michael Hershberger shut down the Danville offense. Midfielders Peyton Thompson, Nicholas Yoder and Lane Schrock, along with Sanchez, were active and maintained the majority of the possession.

IMS held off a comeback by Highland for a 3-2 victory in the tournament?s semifinals on Saturday morning. Bender scored on a penalty kick and Hostetler scored on an assist by sophomore Kirby Shetler to give IMS a 2-0 halftime lead. Thompson scored on an assist by Yoder to give IMS a 3-0 lead early in the second half. Highland answered with a pair of goals to close the gap, but IMS tightened its defense to hold on for the win.

After a short break, IMS (13-5) had to turn around and face the fifth-ranked Crusaders in the championship game. Tired bodies and legs seemed to take a toll on IMS, and it struggled to sustain offensive pressure. IMS opened the match with the wind at its back, but play settled in the middle third of the field. The match was scoreless until late in the first half, when a Holy Trinity player sent a long shot high and toward the goal. The swirling winds made the ball difficult to judge, and got over the hands of IMS goalie Joel Shetler and settled into the back of the net. Holy Trinity added a second goal in the second half on a long ball that was tracked down by a forward and kicked into the net. The Crusaders (14-2) then held on to win the match and the tournament.