Northeast men drop conference match to No. 15 Iowa Lakes

NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College men's soccer team hoped to secure its first home win of the season, but the No. 15 Iowa Lakes Community College Lakers had other plans.

The Lakers held off the Hawks (2-6, 1-3 ICCAC), 3-1 for an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference win on Tuesday at Veterans Memorial Field in Norfolk.

The Lakers found the net early in the 16^th minute to jump on the scoreboard first, and again in the 51^st minute.

Arthur Lopez put the Hawks on the board off a penalty kick to bring Northeast within a goal. However, it was the Lakers that put the game out of reach for Northeast after adding another goal in the 88^th minute.

"Our level of play was there," head coach Chad Miller said. "We moved the ball and created some chances. Iowa Lakes' defense did a great job keeping us with our back to the goal. We had some great chances in the first half, but came up empty. Defending in front of the goal seemed to be our problem today. We were so worried about defending the corners that we completely forgot about the middle. All three goals were scored within the 18 and right in front of the goal. That should not happen and that needs to be fixed."

Iowa Lakes went on to out-shoot Northeast 14-10. Goalie Massimiliano Simonazzi tallied four saves in the net on seven shots on goal.

Ricardo Goldner and Rocky Guevara pitched in two shots and a shot on goal in the loss.

The Hawks are back in action for a non-conference match against Metropolitan Community College-Blue River at 4 p.m. Thursday in Norfolk.

Live stream will be available at: https://team1sports.com/northeastcc/

For all news related to Northeast Community College athletics, visit northeasthawks.com for complete coverage. Fans can also follow the Hawks on Twitter @NortheastHawks for game-day coverage.