IW women get first win, men stay hot

MT. PLEASANT - The Iowa Wesleyan women's soccer team is finally in the winner's column. The Tigers rallied past Eureka College on Wednesday at East Lake Park, grabbing a SLIAC win 4-2. That game was preceeded by an 8-0 drubbing by the IW men's team.

The Tiger women struck first. Emmy Rodriguez got a run at the goal in the 23rd minute and put one past the Red Devil keeper to put the Tigers up 1-0.

Eureka's Madison Shines hit right back with two goals of her own. Shines tied the game up three minutes after Rodriguez's goal and then gave the Red Devils a 2-1 lead on a penalty kick in the 32nd minute. At the break, Eureka led 2-1.

'We just told them to calm down and think a little bit,” said head coach Chris Gaskins. 'Just relax and play, and just enjoy playing.”

The Red Devils held the lead for just over 20 minutes, but Rodriguez picked up her second goal in the 52nd minute to tie it up. She took a pass from Lindsay Nelson and found the net, making it 2-2 with just under 40 minutes left.

Jacqueline Ivers broke the tie for good in the 63rd minute. Ivers got a pass from Nelson and sent it by the diving Eureka keeper, giving IW the lead and all the momentum.

The Tiger forwards leaned on the Eureka defense for the entire second half, getting chance after chance. Ivet Rodriguez put the nail int he coffin in the 78th minute, running the score to 4-2, where it would stand.

Emmy and Ivet combined for 21 shots and 12 shots on goal against the Eureka defense. Ivers had just three shots ont he day but two went on goal and one went in.

Cheelna Squib saved four of the six shots that came her way to pick up her first win of the year in net.

Four of Eureka's six shots on goal came from Shines, but the Red Devil forward was shut out in the second half, thanks to a defensive adjustment.

'We made some adjustments part way through the second half,” Gaskins said. 'We put one of our freshman, Karmen (Chuong), on her. We had her man mark her for a large part of the second half, and that seemed to help.”

In the first game of the doubleheader, it was all Tigers. The IW men scored all eight of their goals in the first 35:01, pummeling Eureka early and often to stay unbeaten in the conference.

IW received goals from Cesar Arroyo and Jaime Rabadan in the first six minutes to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Hugo Bonilla scored twice in the half. Carlos Mateo Moreno, Favio Govea, Xavier Lozada and Creighten Chambers all found the back of the net before the period was over.

Three players split time in net. Edgar Vallejo, Trevor Haasis and Elijah Perez each faced three shots and combined for the shutout.

The Tigers had 19 shots on goal altogether. Bonilla finished with two goals to lead the way. Mateo Moreno and Jeinner each had a goal and two assists.

'Last week was tough with Principia and Spalding back-to-back,” said IW head coach Tony Odorisio. 'We knew coming in we could do that type of thing, get them in early, rest some guys and be ready for the Greenville game.”

The Tiger men are still in a tie for first with Spalding at 5-0-1 in the SLIAC. They'll take on Greenville University on Saturday, Oct. 26 with revenge on their minds.

'Those guys beat us last year in the conference championship. I've lost sleep over it,” says Odorisio. 'But they are very well coached and have players from all over the world that play very good soccer. When we go there, it's a fun game regardless.”