NO. 1 HAWKS CLAIM BACK-TO-BACK REGION 11 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH VICTORY OVER NO. 2 LAKERS

NORFOLK, Neb. – The No. 1 Northeast Community College men's soccer team hit the pitch Sunday at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Field in Norfolk against No. 2 Iowa Lakes Community College in the Region 11 Tournament Championship. The Hawks took a 6-3 victory to capture the Region 11 Tournament title for the second year in a row.

Northeast (19-1, 8-0 ICCAC) controlled the ball for much of the entire game but fell behind early 1-0 after Iowa Lakes put in a corner kick. Luca Baltzer (Oberstenfeld, Germany) evened the matchup at one with a penalty kick before the Lakers added two more goals soon after.

Iowa Lakes led 3-1 just 39 minutes into the contest, which marked the first time all season that the Hawks had trailed by more than one goal. Jeevan Purewal (Wolverhampton, England) came up huge soon after as found the back of the net to put Northeast down just 3-2 at half.

The Hawks came out of the halftime break on an absolute tear as Lewis Rourke (Nottingham, England) twice, Sergio Aspas (Valencia, Aspas) and Edouard Nys (Dottignies, Belgium) all scored in the second half to propel Northeast to claim back-to-back Region 11 Tournament Championships. In total, after falling behind 3-1 the Hawks rallied to score five-straight goals in what was a showdown between the squads ranked first and second in the nation.

STAT SHEET:

Goals: Luca Baltzer (Oberstenfeld, Germany), Jeevan Purewal (Wolverhampton), Lewis Rourke (Nottingham, England) (2), Sergio Aspas (Valencia, Spain), Edouard Nys (Dottignies, Belgium)

Assists: Edouard Nys (2), Sergio Aspas, Teun van der Donk (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Men's Soccer Coach Adam Potter on what he saw from his team as they rallied from a 3-1 deficit to score five-straight goals:

"It's just a resilient group," Potter said. "I've seen it in training all year long. When these guys want something, they go and get it. They grabbed it and chased adversity head-on. They wanted it so badly. They wanted it and went and got it."

Potter on what it means to secure back-to-back Region 11 Tournament Championships:

"I think a lot of people forget where this place had been," Potter said. "I told these guys before the game that there wasn't just a trophy on the line. Now people are going to remember your name. People are now going to remember who Northeast Men's Soccer is and they are going to fear us every time the line up against us in the years to come. Everyone knows who we are and it's going to be a battle every time we are on the field, and we have to be ready for that. People are going to give us their best game every single time from now on in the future."

Potter on hosting the Plains District Championship next:

"For us, it's just another day to get better and we are trying to lock down the No. 1 overall seed," Potter said.

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will host the Plains District Championship next at 1 p.m. Saturday at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Field and will battle Neosho County Community College.

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