NO. 1 NORTHEAST TOPS NO. 3 IOWA LAKES IN TOP-FIVE MATCHUP AT HOME

NORFOLK, Neb. – The No. 1 Northeast Community College men's soccer team was at home Wednesday for one of the biggest regular-season matchups in school history against No. 3 Iowa Lakes Community College at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Field in Norfolk. The Hawks pulled off the massive triumph by a final score of 2-1 to remain the only ICCAC school without a blemish on their record.

Northeast (13-0, 4-0 ICCAC) was driven by a huge crowd in the battle as not only did the contest mark the first time in school history that a Northeast Athletics program played a home game as the number one ranked school in the nation, but it also was the first time a top-five showdown was ever held at Northeast.

Luca Rosen (London, England) got things going just 11 minutes into the ballgame as he found the back of the net off an assist from Edouard Nys (Dottignies, Belgium). The Lakers tied the match later in the first half and neither team would score again until Luca Baltzer (Oberstenfeld, Germany) drilled a penalty kick to push the Hawks ahead. A late penalty kick by Iowa Lakes looked like it could even the score but a spectacular save by Mathias Kristoffersen (Skovby, Denmark) sealed the top-five win.

STAT SHEET:

Goals: Luca Rosen (London, England), Luca Baltzer (Oberstenfeld, Germany)

Assists: Edouard Nys (Dottignies, Belgium)

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Men's Soccer Coach Adam Potter on the effort from his group today:

"Every single person stepped up," Potter said. "When they stepped on the field, they gave every inch and they gave every ounce of blood, sweat and tears. They left it all on the field. That's what we expect our guys to do. I'm not shocked. I'm not wowed. The guys on the bench were all freaking out before that PK, but I told our guys that he was going to save it. We have confidence in our guys to get the job done. I've seen it time and time again in training. It was awesome for them to display their skills to the world today. They put on a show and made a memory that will last forever."

Potter on the crowd support today from the community:

"After that PK save, we saw the crowd going electric," Potter said. "The crowd was roaring the whole time. I appreciate Norfolk coming out and supporting! That's what pushes you through in those kinds of games and those kinds of moments. When you have that crowd support behind you it pushes you to another level and makes you want to fight that much more. It was an awesome environment supporting our guys, supporting our team and supporting our school. I'm really appreciative of the people willing to come out and push these guys to victory."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will load up and head to Scott Community College for a duel at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Davenport, Iowa.

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