Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy Yearbook

The Hillcrest Academy Raven boys soccer team is back on the pitch tonight when they take on West Liberty in Kalona. The Ravens are 2-1 on the season after a loss to Burlington Notre Dame and wins over Washington and WACO. This year Hillcrest has outscored their opponents 10-3 in total, with nine assists, 32 shots on goal, 18 corner kicks and an 80% team save percentage. Individually, Rowan Miller and Mason Helmuth each have three goals, Seth Ours two and Isaac Birky and Mason Bender one each. Miller is also the team leader with three assists, Helmuth and Jesse Blossom have two apiece and Birky and Bender each one. Kyle Neuschwander has made 10 saves in goal.

West Liberty is 6-0 this year, outscoring opponents 31-2 in total with victories over Bellevue, Clear Creek Amana, Mid-Prairie, Mount Vernon, Cascade and Davenport West. They have 28 assists, 31 shots on goal and a 94% team save percentage. Individual leaders include Uriel Andrade-Martinez with 13 goals and Iker Garcia Rosas with 12. Anwar Garcia is best with seven assists, followed by six for Hazzam Garcia. David Hernandez has 17 saves in goal. This week, Hillcrest head coach Marcus Miller joined the KCII PM Sports Page to talk about the recent highlights in his team’s play, “It’s been a chance for the guys to figure out how to work together better and make some good combinations. We’ve had two goals on headers and last year we struggled with that. We’ve had one goal directly off of a corner kick. We’re getting goals on set pieces and getting goals during the run of play. Then we had three or four different scorers. It’s nice because it makes it difficult for other teams when they can’t make just one or two guys.”

West Liberty has won four-in-a-row in the series, including a 3-1 victory in their last meeting in 2019. Action starts tonight at 4p.m. At Hillcrest Academy.