Ottumwa -- Indian Hills broke away to a 3-0 halftime lead, got a big insurance goal from Rilee Miller (picture above) and the Warriors knocked off Iowa Lakes, 4-2, on Saturday for IHCC's first conference victory of the season, and their third win in four games overall.
Two goals in the first six minutes of play got Indian Hills off to a quick start. The first strike was a result of something IHCC coach Stephanie Gale said her team has been drilling on -- working the ball out of the back through the midfield and combining with attacking players. Freshmen Vera Aall Flood and Sophie Woods used a give-and-go for the score, Flood finding the far side of the goal after attacking and taking a pass from Woods.
A few minutes later sophomore left back Kayla Holland fed a cross to freshman Olivia Pargeon who used her speed to go through two Iowa Lakes players and beat the Lakers goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
"Overall, the girls controlled the entire first half with the ball being played in mostly the midfield and the attacking third," Gale said.
Sophomore Lexi Vaughn found the back of the net later in the first half after the Warriors gained a free kick in shooting range and Vaughn's score gave Indian Hills a three-goal halftime advantage. Vaughn hit the crossbar twice in addition to her goal and had 10 shots for the day, the same number as Flood.
Gale said her squad came out a little over-confident in the second half, giving away silly fouls and that changed the tenor of the match. "Instead of playing the simple two-touch soccer we had been playing, we held onto the ball too long and the girls tried to do too much," Gale said. "For about 15 minutes we stopped playing our style of soccer."
In a span of six minutes, Iowa Lakes tallied twice to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Leadership from players like Vaughn and Miller, though, helped calm the Warriors at that point, according to their coach, who said Indian Hills got back to playing more comfortably and more dangerously in every area.
The final IHCC goal came from a free kick when Vaughn played the ball to Miller who was able to one-touch it past the ILCC keeper.
"I'm proud of the way the girls played," Gale said. "We do, however, need to play smarter and not give away silly fouls, which ruins the flow of the game. Our communication was great and the girls ourworked Iowa Lakes. We had a total of 41 shots for the day, with 26 of them on goal, compared to Iowa Lakes' seven shots, three on goal. With that many opportunities we need to capitalize and find the back of the net a little more."
Gale credited the Lakers' goalkeeper with playing a great game and keeping her team in the match.
She concluded, "We need to stick with what we practice and we will be a very dangerous team to watch."
Indian Hills will host Scott CC in another conference matchup on Tuesday afternoon at 4:00.
Indian Hills 4, Iowa Lakes 2
Game Summary:
IHCC goals by Rilee Miller, Vera Aall Flood, Olivia Pargeon, Lexi Vaughn
ILCC goals by Alejandra Mendez, Jessica Ulmer-Miller
Saves: Marta Lopez (IHCC) - 1; Jurnee Reveles (ILCC) - 37
Shots: IHCC 41; ILCC 8
Corner Kicks: IHCC 7; ILCC 2
Fouls: IHCC 16; ILCC 7
IHCC Starters: Olivia Pargeon, Hannah Mitchell, Kayla Holland, Sophie Woods, Amy Humphrys, Laura Vankooten, Vera Aall Flood, Araceli Angel, Lexi Vaughn, Stephanie Faust, Marta Lopez