Women's soccer: Hey Mickey! Stephens nets four goals for IHCC women
Sep. 2—OTTUMWA — Mickey Stephens put on a scoring clinic for the Indian Hills women's soccer team on Wednesday as the freshman from Centerville netted four goals in a 6-1 victory over Southeastern.
"It's definitely a day I won't forget anytime soon," Stephens said. "It's really fun playing with this team. It's a lot different from high school. Just getting that first goal in really helped my confidence."
Indian Hills improved to 5-1 overall on the year, continuing their offensive surge on Saturday with a 3-0 shutout win at Hawkeye. Sophomore teammates Dare Kroeten, Abbie Bailey and Mifumi Sasanuma all found the back of the net as IHCC has more than tripled their goal total over the past two matches compared to the four goals in the first four matches of the season.
"I hope that we can kick on from this," IHCC head women's soccer coach Ulysus Torres said. "We've definitely been lacking offensively in the previous weeks. To have a forward score four goals is something good not only for Mickey, but for the entire team."
Leading by just one at halftime on a goal by Rebekah Gutierrez, the Warriors received an offensive boost from Stephens after the intermission. Stephens broke free early in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring a pair of goals in a five-minute span. Stephens added two more goals midway through the second half to put the game out of reach.
Dare Kroeten scored a goal for the third consecutive match. Each goal has come in the middle of an IHCC win.
Freshmen Sara Cogoli, this week's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Goalkeeper of the Week, earned the win to improve to 4-0-0 on the year for the Warriors. As a team, the Warriors fired 27 shots, including 17 on net. The Blackhawks managed just four shots on the Warrior defense, with only one on net.
Gutierrez opened up the scoring on Wednesday for the Warriors, scoring her second goal of the season in the 23rd minute of the match. Gutierrez scored off an assist from Nagi Higashi (Osaka, Japan/Osaka Toin) to put Indian Hills up 1-0.
The Warriors carried its one-goal advantage into the second half until Stephens buried a deflection on a corner kick in the 49th minute, the first goal of her career. Stephens followed up less than five minutes later by burying a loose ball rebound in the box to put the home team up 3-0.
Less than three minutes later, Kroeten took advantage of a Blackhawk turnover in the offensive third for and buried a shot for the sophomore's third goal of the season.
The Blackhawks eventually broke free for a goal in the 59th minute, but Stephens once again found the back of the net just moments later. The freshman corralled a loose ball off a Southeastern turnover and put home the shot for the team's first hat trick of the season.
Stephens joined the Warrior record books in the 71st minute after Gutierrez played a through ball into the middle of the field. Stephens beat the last line of defense and fired a shot past the keeper for the final tally of the afternoon.
"Those ones that I've been so close on scoring have been frustrating," Stephens said. "I love working with this team. It's been a completely different game going from high school to college, but I think this match made a huge difference in getting me truly up to speed and truly more comfortable."
The Warriors are back in action on Tuesday afternoon hosting Scott Community College. Action on the IHCC Ottumwa campus at approximately 3:30 p.m.
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
