At halftime of their Southeast Iowa Superconference match Friday in Kalona, Hillcrest Academy head coach Marcus Miller and his Ravens decided down 1-0 to Danville, they didn’t play very well in the first half. After addressing things in the huddle, they turned it on after the break, scoring five unanswered goals from five different players to pull away from the Bears for a convincing 5-1 victory. Danville’s first half goal came on a penalty kick in the ninth minute.
The equalizer came from Diego Ramos in the 55th minute. Jessie Blossom put the Ravens ahead with his 67th minute goal. Jorge Canchola cashed in a 74th minute penalty kick to put Hillcrest up 3-1. Micah Gerber made it 4-1 in the 75th minute and Grant Bender finished the scoring in the 80th minute with his second tally of the season. After the match, Blossom, Gerber and Bender talked about their second half goals. Bender said, “I had a goal earlier in the year that was pure luck. I was determined to get one that wasn’t luck. I just got by him and hit it in the goal. We have a lot of new players, so just a couple of games experience is helping us get into the groove.”
Gerber said, “I have been struggling to get to the goal and actually score, so this time I just stood behind the people and let the ball through so I could kick it.”
Blossom said, “It was for Micah (Gerber) passing me the ball and then getting through them. Right now we are confident but not cocky.”
Aiden Krabill had five saves in goal to anchor the Raven defense. Hillcrest is now 3-1 in conference and 4-3 overall.