Tiger men make history

It was a banner day for Iowa Wesleyan University athletics on Monday evening. The Tigers men's soccer team blanked MacMurray College 4-0 to earn a spot in the SLIAC tournament, the first Tiger team to do so in the university's first year of eligibility.

IW came in to its final two games needing to win both. The Tigers upset first-place Spalding 5-1 on Saturday, and the four-goal win over MacMurray clinched a spot in the top four places in the standings.

'It was do or die,” head coach Tony Odorisio said about the final two games. 'If we don't show up and do our jobs, we're not going to be able to come out here and play again, and do what we love to do. It took us all season to get to that moment. We knew with our tough schedule that it was going to work out in the end for us, and I'm glad it did.”

The Tigers went down early at Spalding, giving up a goal just 2:50 into the game, but goals by Eliecer Urena and Fabian Arvizu gave IW a 2-0 halftime lead. Arvizu, Jose Baldo and Gonzalo Rubio scored in the second half to run away from the Golden Eagles.

IW took care of business on Monday, getting first half goals from Mariano Mateo and Hugo Bonilla in the first half, and goals from Francisco Saldana and Favio Govea in the second. Chris Rimmer and Trevor Haasis combined for a shutout in net.

IW had been ineligible for postseason play, which included conference tournaments, until they became a full-time member this season. Odorisio's squad finished third last year, in just his second year as head coach, and are now a top-four team for the second-straight year.

'It's really the help of the school, the town of Mt. Pleasant, the AD (Derek) Zander and Dr. (DeWayne) Frazier, in letting me do what I want to do out here,” Odorisio said. 'They support us 100 percent. We can't ask for better leadership from the school.”

IW's lone senior, Jake O'Farrell, said he's always known his squad was good enough to make it to this point.

'This year for myself, the team and Tony, has been a dream,” O'Farrell said. 'My first year here was Tony's first year as well, and we knew we were building something great and it was only a matter of time. To come forth now and make it to the tournament is fantastic. It's a dream come true.”

The Tigers finished the year 6-3 in the league, which actually tied for fourth in the conference, but IW holds a tiebreaker over the other fourth-place team, Fontbonne University, due to a 2-1 win earlier this season. They will play Spalding (7-1-1) once more on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. That game will be at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky. (hosted by Spalding)

The other semifinal game will be between Greenville University and Webster University, both of which finished the year 6-2-1 in the SLIAC. Those two teams fought to a scoreless draw in their first game. That contest will be at Webster.

The higher seed will host the championship on Saturday, Nov. 3, meaning IW won't be back at East Lake Park for any postseason games, but two Tiger road wins would get the program their first-ever SLIAC title.

'I don't want to jinx us by saying anything, but I think we can do very well,” says O'Farrell. 'I have a lot of faith in these guys. They're the best team I've ever played with, the best coach I've ever had.”