This past Saturday, the men’s soccer team polished off a perfect 8-0 record during the Iowa Conference regular season with a 3-1 road victory over Simpson.
“We played very well and secured the IIAC title, outright,” said Coach Dan Rothert. “We won the right to host the IIAC Tournament this weekend. It’s our fourth straight title.”
Next up for Loras is the conference tournament this weekend at the Rock Bowl. The Duhawks have won 13 straight matches and hold a 17-1-1 record overall. The Duhawks, who are ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division III, now will turn their attention to the postseason.
The men have advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Division III National Tournament the past two years, so it’s no secret what Rothert and his players are aspiring for this year.
Because of their success this year and in the past, the Duhawks are virtually assured a berth in the national postseason tournament regardless of how they perform this weekend. But as you might expect, Loras badly wants to win the conference tournament.
“The conference tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.” Rothert said. “With our season to date, we are going to make the NCAA’s no matter what, but a big goal of ours is to win the IIAC Tournament at home and to bolster our seeding in the NCAA’s.”
Lightning struck fast on Halloween at Indianola against Simpson. Junior Miguel Bonilla scored two goals for Loras, and senior Santiago Mejia added one of his own. Midway through the first half, Bonilla scored on an assist from first-year Joshua Kutzke. Just 16 seconds later, Mejia scored an unassisted goal.
Simpson responded with a goal of its own 20 minutes later. However, 15 minutes after that, Bonilla ended Simpson’s upset bid with an unassisted goal. Bonilla scored with a header off of a deflection by the Simpson goalkeeper.
“We kept the energy levels high throughout the game,” Rothert added. “We had some great finishing, both from execution and pure hustle.”