Hawks come up short against Iowa Lakes

NORFOLK, Neb. – In search of its third-straight conference win, the Northeast Community College women's soccer team had a tough time getting past the stout defense from Iowa Lakes Community College.

The Lakers scored early and often to hand the Hawks (3-4, 3-1 ICCAC) their first conference loss of the season by the final score of 2-1 on Tuesday at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Field in Norfolk.

It was the Hawks that jumped on the scoreboard first when Amanda Stricker found the back of the net in the 22^nd minute off a penalty kick. Iowa Lakes answered three minutes later to tie the score at one apiece. In the 33^rd minute, the Lakers scored their final goal of the match and relied on its defense to keep Northeast at bay.

The Hawks out-shot the Lakers 17-9 in the match, led by Tayler Ohu with four. Mary Perez pitched in three and Emily Goc, Ellie Gess and Hailey Curry added two.

"We possessed the ball well and I felt we ran our game plan exactly like we wanted," head coach Chad Miller said. "But, we gave up two set piece goals and struggled scoring regardless of many great chances. That is a recipe for a loss. Our defense did a fantastic job keeping Iowa Lakes out, but we are having troubles getting goals. The opportunities are there, but our composure in front of the net is not there. We need to fix that if we plan to win big games."

The Hawks continue their three-game home stand, battling Metropolitan Community College-Blue River at 2 p.m. Thursday at Veteran's Memorial Field 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.