Reivers Take Down ICCAC Conference Foe Indian Hills

COUNCIL BLUFFS - NJCAA No. 10 Iowa Western Women's Soccer defeated NJCAA No. 8 Indian Hills 3-1 in a Top-10 matchup on Wednesday afternoon at the John & Harriet Wiebe Complex.

The Reivers (8-1-5, 1-0) struck in the 17th minute when the Warriors' Nana Tanikawa misplayed a pass to her in their defensive third. Sophomore Forward Honoka Nohara took control and touched the ball past another defender in the box and crossed it right towards Gala Corbacho, who buried it with her left foot for the opening goal.

Iowa Western added a second goal in the 30th minute off a corner kick from Nohara that bent toward the back post and found the head of Hinami Ogushi to make it 2-0 after 45 minutes of play.

The Reivers added a third goal in the 56th minute when Arianna Harrison played a through ball to Evelyn Soto at the top of the 18-yard box. Goalkeeper Annabelle Combes came out to stop the attack, but Soto got a touch on the ball and poked it underneath her for the open net score.

"Really enjoyed our performance today," said Head Coach Bruce Erickson. "Indian Hills is a talented group, and we played hard and got after it today."

Indian Hills (8-2-0, 0-1) responded just 22 seconds later after Rylie Washington received a yellow card for a foul on Arnicka Louis, just outside of the penalty area, following the kickoff.  Ella Forsyth struck the free kick right at Reiver Goalkeeper Shu Ishida, but the Freshman was ruled to be behind the touch line with the ball across the line for the score.

Iowa Western withstood three more attacks in the final 20 minutes, and Corbacho had an opportunity to retake a three-goal lead, but Combes made a great diving save in the 85th minute.

"A good response from our last game and hopefully a performance that can propel us forward," added Erickson.

The Reivers will host Western Wyoming on Saturday at 2:00 pm from the John and Harriet Wiebe Complex, their final regular-season home game of the year.