Cougars Men’s Soccer loses close match against rival Parkland College

Dane Parkhurst – ICC Harbinger

East Peoria, IL – It was a warm September afternoon at the CougarPlex on Saturday. The Illinois Central College Cougars (3-4- 0) faced off against the rival Parkland College Cobras (6-2-0).

The Cobras had been riding on a five game winning streak, and were looking to extend that further. ICC has struggled early on, taking each loss by only one goal. From kickoff, it was clear that this would be a competitive and fast paced match. Both teams made numerous precise passes down field and seemed to be connecting where they wanted to. Play stayed mostly midfield, as both defenses were locked down tight, not letting much get into their respective defensive zones.

Around the 21:00 minute mark Parkland was able to penetrate the Cougar defense and make a play in front of the net. Jesus Reina made a swift pass to Cobra forward Tanner Kidwell for the first score of the game. An excellent scoring opportunity came 8 minutes later for ICC, but was called offsides by what seemed to be just inches. The Cougars saw a few other chances later in the first half of play, but were unable to finish for a score.

Next came another Parkland goal with 9:24 left in the half. Jesus Reina moved past the Cougars defense and netted the second goal of the match. Parkland was up 2-0 going into the 2nd period.

It wasn’t long for the Cougars to get on the board in the 2nd half. Sophomore midfielder David Galic drew a penalty shot from about ten feet from the net in the 3rd minute. Galic netted the
penalty kick which put ICC within one goal from the Cobras. ICC generated a lot of offensive opportunities, looking to tie Parkland. The most notable opportunities came within a few minutes of each other.

With 20 minutes left in the match David Alvarez Fernandez headed the ball towards the net, but missed wide by less than a foot. Minutes later Freshman Alexis Tahet worked his way within feet of the net but was tripped up by a Parkland defender, no foul was called.

Although the Cougar offense was focused and the defense was nearly perfect in the last half, Parkland won the match by a score of 2-1. The Cobra victory extends their winning streak to six
games. This was the Cougars fifth loss of the season by only one goal. These two teams will battle it out again at Parkland on October 7th.

The next home game for the Cougars is against Lincoln Land Community College under the lights at 7 pm on Saturday, September 23rd.

Harbinger Sports Twitter: @ICCSportsLive