Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy Yearbook

Senior Night was a celebration in more ways than one Friday for the Hillcrest Academy Raven soccer team. The Ravens claimed their first outright Southeast Iowa Superconference title since 2019 with a 4-0 win over Columbus in Kalona. Hillcrest left nothing to chance, scoring in the opening 15 minutes of the match to take a lead they would not give up the rest of the night, adding two more insurance goals before the break to lead 3-0 at intermission, and adding another in the second half. Raven goal scorers included Mason Swartzendruber, Micah Gerber, Phoenix Anderson and Mason Bender. Seth Ours chipped in with two assists, Gerber had a helper and Andrew Kauffman and Kyle Neuschwander combined on a clean sheet with four total saves. After the match, the lone Hillcrest senior Swartzendruber, and Raven assist leader Ours joined KCII Sports to talk about the match, the league championship and Senior Night

Swartzendruber said, “The conference championship feels great! The last few games on offense, things were getting a little choppy so we switched it up. I think that helped a lot to get the short passes going. Senior Night was nice to have my friends and family around me to enjoy the moment.”

Ours added, “The conference championship really feels nice. Last year wasn’t fun for us and we didn’t really know what to expect coming into this season. So it feels good to be able to win the conference. We had someone up from the back which got our first goal tonight and from there we just built on that. Also, we have been focusing on passing to feet a lot more and I think we did that well tonight. When I get the ball I try to look up, see where the space is for my teammates and get it to them where they can make a move and score.”

Hillcrest had 16 total shots, eight on goal, and four corner kicks in the win. The Ravens are now 8-2 overall and 7-1 Superconference Champions. Columbus falls to 2-6. Both teams will next be in action next week in the Superconference Tournament.