Oct. 28, 2007

Central men, women advance to league tourney

PELLA—For the first time since 2004, Central College will send both its men’s and women’s soccer teams to the six-team Iowa Conference tournaments this week.

The Central men (14-4-1 overall, 6-2 conference) will carry the No. 3 seed and play host to the University of Dubuque (10-8 overall, 3-5 conference) at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field.

The Dutch women (9-5-2 overall, 3-3-2 conference) are the No. 6 seed and will take on No. 3 seed Cornell College (7-7-1 overall, 5-3 conference) at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mount Vernon.

Tuesday’s winners advance to the league semifinals/finals at Loras College in Dubuque Friday and Saturday.

It’s the sixth consecutive league tourney appearance for the Central men, and their seventh trip overall. Last year’s squad was also seeded third and won a 2-0 first-round match with Buena Vista University before tying second-seeded Loras College in the semifinals 1-1. Loras advanced to the championship game on the eighth kick of a shootout.

Nationally ranked Loras (18-0-1 overall, 8-0 conference) is the top seed in the men’s field with Wartburg College (14-2-1 overall, 7-1 conference) seeded second. Both get first-round byes. In the other first-round game at Decorah, fourth-seeded Luther College (8-9-2 overall, 5-3 conference) takes on fifth-seeded Simpson College (3-13-1 overall, 3-5 conference).

Central edged Dubuque 1-0 Sept. 22 at Pella. The Central-Dubuque winner will meet Wartburg Friday.

Coach Rick Burns’ women’s squad is making its first tournament appearance since 2004.

Loras (13-6 overall, 8-0 conference) is also the top seed in the women’s field with Wartburg (15-3 overall, 7-1 conference) seeded second. In the other first-round game, fourth-seeded Dubuque (13-4-2 overall, 4-3-1 conference) plays host to fifth-seeded Luther (7-11-1 overall, 4-4 conference).

Cornell was a 2-1 winner over Central Oct. 3 at Mount Vernon. Tuesday’s winner faces Wartburg Friday at Dubuque.