Daytona Beach, FL – For the first time in program history, the Indian Hills Men's Soccer team will compete for a coveted national title as the Warriors take on Daytona State College (FL) in the 2025 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men's Soccer National Championship match Saturday afternoon.
DETAILS: 2025 NJCAA DI Men's Soccer National Championship
#10 (8) Indian Hills vs. #3 (4) Daytona State
Daytona Beach, FL | Daytona State College Soccer Stadium
Saturday, November 22 | 2:00 PM CT
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+ ($)
AUDIO: GoHills TV (Free)
LIVE STATS: Indian Hills vs. Daytona State
BRACKET / RESULTS: 2025 NJCAA DI Men's Soccer National Championship
WEATHER FORECAST: 81 degrees, mostly sunny
WATCH PARTY: Indian Hills Formal Lounge / The Pit (Ottumwa campus) - Open to the public
Indian Hills' historic season continues Saturday with a spot in the national title match for the first time in program history after the Warriors advanced out of both Pool Play and the Semifinal rounds of the national tournament in Daytona Beach.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Indian Hills secured a spot in the national title match by advancing out of Pool A before clinching a semifinal win over Cowley on Thursday.
- The Warriors used an early 2-0 deficit to hold off the third-seeded Tigers to punch their ticket to the national title match.
- Indian Hills went 1-1-0 in Pool A action, advancing to the semifinals by way of goal differential.
- Daytona State posted a a 2-0-0 mark in Pool D play, dropping (9) Blinn and (5) Barton before topping (7) Mohave 3-1 in the semifinal match.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
- After falling in its first all-time trip to the national semifinal a year ago, the Warriors are set to make their first-ever appearance in the national title match.
- The Warriors are just the second team from the state of Iowa in NJCAA history to advance to the national title match, joining Iowa Western Community College
- Indian Hills is the first team seeded 8 or lower in the national tournament to make the championship game since Monroe College (NY) in 2014.
- A team seeded lower than 5th in the national tournament has never won a national title, dating back to 2000.
- 2025 marks the first season since 2010 that two teams are competing in their first all-time national title match. Barton (KS) and Monroe (NY) squared off in 2010 with Barton winning 3-0.
WARRIORS TO WATCH
The Warriors have relied on its potent offense paired with a stingy defense to advance to the national title match.
- Freshman Enzo de Almeida sparked the Warriors in the semifinals with two remarkable goals in the first half to push the Warriors past Cowley.
- Sophomore defenders Vittorio Bellesi and Kira Fukuda, coupled with freshmen Sakutaro Matsuura and Rodrigo Velasco combined to play all but one minute on the backline for the Indian Hills defense in Thursday's semifinal win.
- Freshman keeper Matteo Malaguti has been dominant in net for the Warriors throughout the postseason and boasts a 0.98 goals against average on the year.
- A number of sophomores will look to claim the national title after becoming the first group of Warriors to compete in two NJCAA DI Men's Soccer National Semifinal rounds:
- Fabian Arroyo, Diego Lazaro, Alessandro Peruz, Joseph Redmond, Bellesi, and Fukuda.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Daytona State, hosts of the 2025 national tournament, are also competing in the program's first-ever national title match after making it out of Pool Play for the first time in program history.
- The Falcons, ranked No. 3 in the final NJCAA national poll and seeded fourth in the national tournament, enter Saturday's match with a 15-2-2 overall record.
- Daytona State has won five consecutive matches, including the FCSAA DI Men's Soccer Championship match along with the NJCAA Southeast District title.
- The Falcons have allowed at least one goal in seven consecutive matches.
- Daytona State ranks ninth in the NJCAA with 61 goals scored this season and eighth overall with 60 assists.
- The Falcons have pitched seven shutouts this season and claim a 1.15 goals against average.
- Daytona State is 7-7 on penalty kicks this season.
- Sophomore Josue Youta leads the Falcons with 34 points (14g, 6a) while Kayoum M'Bamba ranks second with 26 points (8g, 10a).
- Matthew McCall has anchored the net for the Falcons with a 12-1-0 overall record and a 1.33 goals against average.
- 2025 marks the fifth all-time appearance at the national tournament for the Falcons.
- Along with its 3-0-0 mark in the 2025 tournament, the Falcons are 6-5-0 all-time at the national tournament.
- Daytona State previously hosted the national title in 2018.
NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW
Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Men's Soccer squad all year long through a number of ways:
- X (formerly Twitter): @IHCCAthletics | @IHCCMsoc
- Facebook: Indian Hills Athletics | Indian Hills Men's Soccer
- Instagram: @IHCCMSOC | @IHCCAthletics
- Youtube: Indian Hills Athletics
- Website: www.indianhillsathletics.com
- Catch up with the history of Indian Hills Men's Soccer: Indian Hills Men's Soccer Record Book | Indian Hills Men's Soccer All-Time Awards
- Keep up with former Indian Hills Men's Soccer standouts and where they are now | Next Level Warriors - Indian Hills Men's Soccer
- All home games are played at IHCC Soccer Comlpex on the Indian Hills Ottumwa campus
- Admission to all home matches is free of charge
HOW TO WATCH
As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills home men's soccer games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:
- GoHillsTV App: Download the Iowa Media Network app on your android or ios device and navigate to the GoHillsTV section
- Website: https://www.iowamedianetwork.com/gohillstv to catch all live and archived information
- Roku Streaming Device (new): Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!
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