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Men's Soccer Ryan Beckner

Men's Soccer Season Recap

Hawks Fall to ICC in Region 24 Championship

Box Score Normal, Illinois - Heartland men's soccer lost to Illinois Central College in the Region 24 Tournament Championship this past Monday by a final score of 2-0. It was certainly not the outcome the Hawks wanted, but they did upset #1 seed Lewis & Clark the day before on their way to the championship game. As of October 28th, Lewis & Clark is ranked #16 in the NJCAA Division I men's soccer rankings, so that makes the win for Heartland all that more impressive. The Hawks finish the season with a final record of 7-6-1 and 3-2-1 in conference play.

Iram Baylon led the team with 12 goals scored on the year, followed by Daniel Trojman in second with 5 goals and Heriberto Garza in third with 3 goals. Baylon also led the team with 26 points for the year, while Trojman gathered 11 and Bryan Alfaro finished with 9. Alfaro also led the team with 5 assists this season. Elias Zamora started all 14 games at goalie and picked up 31 total saves.

The Hawks had a 2:1 ratio on goals scored versus opponents' goals scored for the year. Most of their wins came by large margins, while their losses were close. Three of their seven total victories came by shutout. Against Lincoln Land Community College on September 4th, the Hawks put up a season-high 32 shots with 16 of those on goal, which ultimately led to an 8-1 victory that day. At The Corn Crib this season, Heartland went 5-0-1 (including playoffs) with an astounding total of 20 goals scored and only 2 goals allowed.

Notes on Scoring
- Freshman Ignacio Torres, from Montevideo, Uruguay, scored his first two goals as a Hawk in the season opener versus South Suburban College on August 25th. Daniel Trojman, Freshman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, also recorded his first goal as a Heartland player during this game.
- Iram Baylon recorded two hat-tricks this season. The first came on September 4th versus Lincoln Land, and the second occurred on October 2nd against ICC.
- Freshman Alberto Ortiz, from El Paso, Texas, scored his first goal as a Hawk on September 10th versus Parkland College.
- Freshmen Kwanele Khathi (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Loris Granier (Nimes, France) scored their first goals on October 9th versus Carl Sandburg College.

Before this past win on Sunday against Lewis & Clark, two other upset victories came on back-to-back road games in September. On September 7th, the Hawks went to Ottumwa, Iowa and defeated #17 nationally-ranked Indian Hills Community College, 2-0. They followed up that victory three days later with a huge upset against #10 nationally-ranked Parkland College, 6-2.

The returning men and newcomers will be ready to pick up where they left off when next season comes around, and that opening match cannot come soon enough for the coaches, returning players and Heartland Hawk faithful.

Go Hawks!

 
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Players Mentioned

Loris Granier

#6 Loris Granier

Freshman
Ignacio Torres

#7 Ignacio Torres

Freshman
Daniel Trojman

#9 Daniel Trojman

Freshman
Elias Zamora

#12 Elias Zamora

Sophomore
Alberto Ortiz

#16 Alberto Ortiz

Freshman
Kwanele Khathi

#22 Kwanele Khathi

Freshman

Players Mentioned

Loris Granier

#6 Loris Granier

Freshman
Ignacio Torres

#7 Ignacio Torres

Freshman
Daniel Trojman

#9 Daniel Trojman

Freshman
Elias Zamora

#12 Elias Zamora

Sophomore
Alberto Ortiz

#16 Alberto Ortiz

Freshman
Kwanele Khathi

#22 Kwanele Khathi

Freshman