KALONA

The Hillcrest Ravens have taken the Southeast Iowa Super Conference by storm, owning a 4-0 record against conference foes and an overall 6-0 record after toppling Danville 2-1 on Thursday, April 18 and Cedar Valley Christian 5-0 on Friday, April 19.

Leading the Hillcrest storm are forwards Micah Gerber and Rowan Miller who scored a combined four of seven Hillcrest goals, leading the flock to victory.

The Ravens have four more regular season games remaining – they took on Wapello (0-6) on Tuesday, April 23 but the game came after a print deadline, preventing it from making this week’s edition of The News – before the playoffs begin, seeing a path to an undefeated season.

First, they’ll take on Columbus (1-6) on Friday, April 26. Then, on Saturday, April 27, at 2 p.m., the Ravens will compete against Washington (4-2). This was meant to be Hillcrest’s opening night game but was postponed due to weather.

On Monday, April 29, the much-improved Highland Huskies (4-3) will travel to Hillcrest. Finally, on Tuesday, April 30, the Ravens will close their regular season with a matchup against Mediapolis (5-2).

These final games will give Hillcrest a taste of the playoffs; good teams hungry to hand Hillcrest their first loss in a fleeting season.

Hillcrest 2, Danville 1, Thursday, April 18, 2024

Micah Gerber net both of Hillcrest’s goals, one in each half, lifting Hillcrest above the 6-2 Danville Bears.

Gerber scored on his only two shot attempts of the night. The Ravens had eight total shot attempts.

The combined goaltender duo of Mason Helmuth and Andrew Kauffman made eight saves, giving Danville nine shots on goal.

Senior Kadu Garcia would score Danville’s lone goal in the second half.

Hillcrest cemented a 5-0 record after this win while Danville dropped to 6-2.

Hillcrest 5, Cedar Valley Christian 0, Friday, April 19, 2024

On the second half of a back-to-back, the Ravens were prepped to play Cedar Valley Christan.

Four Ravens combined for five goals against the Huskies. Rowan Miller had two, giving him eight goals on the year, a team-high despite playing one less game than most of his teammates.

Additionally, Mason Bender, Gerber and Jesse Blossom, juniors all, netted a goal of their own to give the Ravens a 5-0 win.

And the Ravens wasted no time. Bender scored the opening goal just 4:06 into the game.

Gerber then added a goal 22:53 into the first half. At the time, this gave Gerber the team-lead in goal scoring.

But Miller would add two of his own before the half ended, giving him the one goal edge over Gerber.

Nearly identical to the first half, Blossom scored just 4:13 in. The rest of the game remained scoreless.

Despite goaltender Kyle Neuschwander facing just four shots on goal, the Huskies continued marching forward the entire game, gaining ample chances to enter Hillcrest’s side of the pitch.

Whenever the Huskies did venture toward Hillcrest’s net, the Raven defense swarmed, keeping most action outside of the goalie’s box and eventually breaking free with an offensive rush of their own.

Hillcrest mustered 18 shots on goal and if not for Cedar Valley Christian’s goalie, Josiah Steen, the Ravens likely walk it off in the first half where they did the most damage: four goals.

The prolonged game allowed Hillcrest to field players who don’t see much game time, giving everyone an equal chance to play.

The win lifted Hillcrest to a 6-0 record, their most wins since the 2021-22 season and their best start since the 2017-18 season when the Ravens went on a 12-0 run to kickstart the year, ending 18-2.