VALKEMA AND FUENTES SEREY LIFT NO. 3 HAWKS PAST NO. 8 LAKERS WEDNESDAY

NORFOLK, Neb. – The No. 3 Northeast Community College men's soccer team hosted No. 8 Iowa Lakes Community College Wednesday for a top-10 clash in a battle of the previous two NJCAA DII men's soccer national champions. The Hawks held the Lakers scoreless throughout the match and took the contest by a final score of 3-0.

Northeast (10-2, 3-1 ICCAC) struck first as Len Valkema put in a header off of a corner kick from Ludovico Vicini (Modena, Italy) in the first half. Neither team found a way to add to the scoreboard the rest of the half and the next goal didn't come until Matias Fuentes Serey (Santiago, Chile) found the back of the net with just 30 minutes remaining in the match. Valkema added another insurance goal for the Hawks, which was his 10th score of the year, and Oscar Juhl-Larsen (Solrod Strand, Denmark) recorded his fourth clean sheet to secure the victory for Northeast.

STAT SHEET:

Goals: Len Valkema (Leewarden, Netherlands) - 2, Matias Fuentes Serey (Santiago, Chile)

Assists: Ludovico Vicini (Modena, Italy), Yosuke Shimizu (Kobe, Japan)

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Assistant Coach Adriano Coppolecchia on blanking No. 8 Iowa Lakes Wednesday:

"We had a very organized team today and the stuck to the gameplan," Coppolecchia said. "Many guys stepped up, such as Matias Fuentes Serey (Santiago, Chile), who had his first goal of his colligate career. Everyone put in a lot effort to execute the plan that we created, and it was great to see our team's hard work pay off."

Coppolecchia on turning the page to a matchup with No. 12 Southeastern on Saturday:

"We can enjoy this victory until tomorrow morning and then our team's mind has to shift to Southeastern," Coppolecchia said. "They are in first place right now in the conference standings, they just beat Iowa Lakes and they are ranked No. 12 in the nation. It is going to be another big matchup at home, and one that will create different challenges. Our group will have to be ready to go on Saturday."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will welcome No. 12 Southeastern Community College to town for a conference showdown at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Field in Norfolk.

HAWKS HAPPENINGS:

For all the latest information on Northeast Hawks Athletics, please visit northeasthawks.com. For updates and other exciting content, follow:

@northeastcchawks on Facebook

@northeasthawks on Instagram

@northeasthawks on TikTok

@NortheastHawks on Twitter/X

@NortheastCCMS on Twitter/X