Salt Lake CC blanks Iowa Western to win Pool D

The Salt Lake Community College punched their ticket into the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament semifinals with a 2-0 victory over No. 5 seed Iowa Western Tuesday night at Orlando Health Stadium in Melbourne, Florida.

The Bruins got on the board early as Ty Sanchez hit a header on a pass from Santiago Delfino just 17 minutes into the contest for the 1-0 lead.

It would remain 1-0 into halftime and through the first half of the second half until a penalty kick was awarded to Salt Lake. Sanchez stepped up to the line and hit a rocket past goalkeeper Hector Munoz to make it 2-0.

From there the Salt Lake CC defense held up to the Iowa Western attack to pick up the win and return to the semifinals.

“I am borderline speechless with the way the boys played, Iowa Western made us defend, they made us work our butts off for everything we got and they held possession for much of the game but at the end of the day, we had a game plan and we executed that game plan. We were clinical in the final third and we defended like our season was on the line and I am proud of the boys,” Salt Lake Community College men’s soccer coach Mark Davis said. “My wingers, the way they played tonight – wow, Ty wasn’t even sure if he could play tonight and he ends up doing this, it is amazing.”

Iowa Western finishes its season 17-3-1.

Salt Lake Community College will play Arizona Western in a rematch from last season’s semifinals.