Darton State holds off Iowa Western in tourney opener

BREVARD COUNTY, FL  - The Darton State women’s soccer team started fast and never let up in their opening round game of pool play at the NJCAA women’s soccer national tournament on the Melbourne campus of Eastern Florida State College on Monday.

Jenna Wade scored a pair of first-half goals and Laura Valcourt delivered what turned out to be the clincher on an assist from Haley Kincheloe as No. 9 Darton State defeated No. 4 Iowa Western 3-2.

“I’m very pleased with our performance,” Darton State women’s soccer coach Alex Pickrell said. “We never took our foot off the pedal. We’ve been practicing our set pieces offensively and defensively and they showed that discipline today.”

The Cavaliers (13-2-0) will return to action on Tuesday when they face No. 5 Tyler (19-2-1) at 10 a.m.

Iowa Western (15-2-0) will face Tyler on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Following Monday’s loss, Iowa Western coach Adam Sanchez stressed to his players that their tournament hopes are still alive.

“That’s the way the set up with the national tournament is – you can lose and still advance,” Sanchez said. “Now you’re relying on the results from the other game, but we never give up hope. We just keep fighting and we keep believing.”

The Reivers certainly kept coming at Darton State Monday, answering Wade’s first goal minutes later with one of their own from Amelia Fullmer and cutting their deficit in half on a goal from Sara Paez with just 4:08 to play.

But ultimately, it was the Cavaliers day.

“I thought Darton State just played really well,” Sanchez said. “They were fantastic in the way they pressed us and the way they defended us. They just did a really good job of making us feel uncomfortable.”

Having 13 sophomores on the roster with tournament experience certainly helped Darton State, which came in knowing what level of play to expect.

“Last year, it’s a whole team of freshmen versus now, a whole team of sophomores,” Pickrell said. “I would definitely say it’s an advantage to our cohesion and being in synch.”

Wade was certainly in synch on both of her goals, timing her shots just right after getting the ball laid off to her by Dani Weyer and a cross from Sydney Bishop.

“The first goal, it was just coming back to me and I was trying to stay composed, lean over the ball and just place it,” Wade said. “I knew if I had taken another touch, they might have closed me down, so it needed to be quick.

“The second one, I saw a cross come in. It was the same thing. If I would have taken a touch and tried to finish it, they could have closed me down. I didn’t see anyone in front of me, so I tried to place it. It went in off the post, but thankfully (it went in).”