Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy

The pitch on the campus of Hillcrest Academy in Kalona witnessed a classic Friday night as the Ravens hosted perennial power Iowa City Regina in a non-conference match that ended with a 1-0 Regal win in overtime penalty kicks. Defenses were on showcase in the contest with the two teams playing to a scoreless stalemate through two 40 minute halves, and an additional 20 minutes of extra time.

During penalty kicks Grant Bender and Micah Gerber knocked home kicks two and four, Regina hit their first, third and fourth with Raven keeper Aiden Krabill saving the second. After the match, Hillcrest head coach Marcus Miller talked about his takeaways. “For us tonight it was a defensive struggle but if we had played like this earlier in the week against Tipton we would have won that game. Just to see the improvement over the course of a week or week in a half is really gratifying. Our back line played great. Grant (Bender) had a whale of a game. All of those guys did really well. Aiden (Krabill) played well. I’m really proud of how they have improved and hung in there. That’s the way soccer can be sometimes, heartbreaking.”

Krabill had 15 saves in the loss. The Raven offense had just one shot on goal. Hillcrest is now 1-2 on the year and will host Sigourney Thursday.