TYLER, Texas, November 20, 2019 – After a scoreless first half,
Daniel Haegler broke the tie, and later fueled an explosive finish for the Mustangs, as the No. 1-seed Monroe College Mustangs men's soccer team handed No. 8 Iowa Western Community College its only loss of the season, a 4-0 final score at the Pat Hartley Complex Wednesday morning. With the win, the Mustangs claim Pool A by going 2-0 in pool play, and advance to Friday's semifinal against No. 11 Illinois Central College.
The two best defensive teams in the NJCAA could not produce a goal in the first half of Wednesday's contest, with the goalkeepers combining for seven saves in the opening 45 minutes.
The game continued to be scoreless until the 60th minute. A very high cross was sent into the box from the far right wing, but it was punched away by Iowa Western's goalkeeper. He redirected the ball right to Haegler, who was able to take his time and line up a shot before the goalie could reach him, also sending it past a diving defender into the bottom-right corner of the net to end the shutout and put the Mustangs up, 1-0.
Haegler was given a free-kick opportunity from just outside the box, right around where he scored his first goal, in the 84th minute. The goalie may have been screened by his own line of defense, but Haegler sent it to the top-left corner of the net, where they goalie did not even try to stop it, making it a two-goal lead for the Mustangs with just over six minutes to play.
At the 87-minute mark,
Markus Maurer played the ball up toward the left side of the box. He sent it up to Haegler just inside the top of the box, where he chipped it around the goalie and into the right side of the goal for his third score of the day, completing the hat trick to put the Mustangs on top, 3-0, with just three minutes to go.
Just 26 seconds later, Maurer was able to reward himself for the perfect pass on the last goal. He managed to score one himself after playing it up the field, outrunning a number of defenders, and shooting from the left side into the right of the net to make it a 4-0 game at the 87:26 mark, helping the Mustangs secure the victory and make a statement to the rest of the field.
Oliver Semmle made four saves in net on Wednesday, keeping the Reivers off the board to improve to 8-0 with the shutout victory. Jassem Koleilat shouldered his only loss of the season after giving up four scores with his six saves.
The Mustangs attempted 17 shots in the win, while allowing just six total attempts to the previously unbeaten Reivers. Corner kicks also went the way of Monroe with a 5-4 margin.
Haegler's three goals push his season total to eight. The hat trick matches a three-goal performance for Haegler from a 16-0 victory over SUNY Ulster back on Sept. 20. Maurer's goal was his 10th of the season, and his three points give him a total of 24 on the year.
As the top seed in the tournament, the Mustangs will take on the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals. That happens to be No. 11 Illinois Central, which went 2-0 in Pool B, upsetting both No. 2 Louisburg College and No. 7 Arizona Western College to advance prior to the final game of pool play. Friday's semifinal between Monroe and Illinois Central is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EST.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 12 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (
@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
