KALONA

The Hillcrest Ravens own the SE Iowa Super Conference crown after toppling the Columbus Wildcats 4-0 on Friday, May 3.

“At the beginning of the season, if you told me we’d win the conference, I’d have been pretty surprised,” head coach Marcus Miller said. “[We] played really good. It just seemed like it came together. We did some good things and getting the early goal, it seems to help settle things down.”

It took a consolidated team effort to take down the Wildcats.

Without sophomore Rowan Miller, the Ravens moved junior Mason Bender into a forward position. Bender wasted no time, scoring the opening goal four minutes in.

“We moved Mason up top, [and] he scored an early goal for us,” Miller said. “That’s part of just trying to figure out where guys fit, trying to figure out who can step up and who can fill some of those holes that Rowan gives us.”

After some time passed, Micah Gerber drew a penalty being knocked down from behind. The junior was awarded a penalty kick, and after a long discussion between referees, the PK was official.

Gerber shot to the left, beating the outstretched Columbus goalie to give Hillcrest a 2-0 lead.

Not satisfied, junior Phoenix Anderson added to the Raven lead with a breakaway shot as time ran thin in the first half.

Halftime did not slow the Raven attack.

Just a minute into the second half, the team’s sole senior, Mason Swartzendruber, scored after being left all alone with the ball and nothing else but net in front of him.

It was a fitting time for Swartzendruber to score, considering it was senior night. The goal gave Swartzendruber two on the year.

Swartzendruber made it 4-0. No team scored after this mark, but it didn’t mean the teams didn’t threaten.

Junior Jesse Blossom battled two Columbus defenders in the offensive zone, keeping the ball in bounds, Blossom was knocked down. This didn’t stop him as he used leverage to pull the ball towards him while on his back, getting back to his feet and shooting. His shot went far right but was a glorious scoring chance created when Blossom beat two Columbus defenders at once.

Bender would get another offensive chance too, coming in all alone and shooting barely over the crossbar.

Momentum eventually shifted as Hillcrest introduced subs.

In the first half, junior goaltender Kyle Neuschwander was not tested at all, not needing to make a single save.

Junior Andrew Kaufman made four saves in the second half, one a dangerous shot from up close which Kaufman quelled easily.

But every time Columbus pushed, Hillcrest pushed back harder, being the better defensive squad.

In fact, Miller believes their defense has been their best attribute all year.

“[Defense] has been our strength all season long,” Miller said. “Bryce Bailey, Mason Hellmuth, they’re in the middle and Lincoln Miller and Isaac Birky on the sides, they’ve just done a great job all season long. Our goalies have done well [too].”

Hillcrest suffers first conference loss to Mediapolis

The Hillcrest Ravens hosted the Mediapolis Bulldogs on Tuesday, April 30. There, the Bulldogs would beat the Ravens 3-0, handing Hillcrest their only conference loss of the regular season.

“We looked at the film, we [actually] didn’t do that badly,” Miller said. “[We need to] keep our heads up. We know how to play relaxed, and the guys are able to do that.”

Juniors Alessandro Markomichelakis, Carl Hines and Connor Schulz scored the three goals for Mediapolis.

Hillcrest mustered six shot attempts with four on-goal. Neuschwander made seven saves, allowing three, while Kauffman made one save in his 15 minutes of service.