Council Bluffs, IA - The #14 Illinois Central College women's soccer team lost 5-0 to #7 Iowa Western in the Central District Championship at Reiver Field on Saturday afternoon.  Western took a 2-0 halftime lead and added three second half goals to get the win and earn the automatic bid to the NJCAA National Tournament.  

"Give credit to Iowa Western," third year coach Javi Valle said.  "They are a good team and were deserving of the win.  We're very proud of our girls for their work this season and for taking our program to new heights." 

It was the first loss of an otherwise amazing season for the Cougars, who were ranked in the national poll and won the Region 24 tournament for the first time in school history.  ICC also went undefeated in the regular season and now have a 16-1 overall record.

What's next:  A total of twelve teams make the National Tourney----the eight district champions earn an automatic bid and then four at-large bids are available---so there is still a very slight chance the Cougars could get one of those four at-large bids.  Determining factors for the at-large spots include final season ranking, how teams ranked above the Cougars fared, and strength of schedule.   

Valle submitted the necessary information for consideration to the NJCAA Committee on Saturday evening.  As of 8:33 pm Saturday night, five teams had earned the automatic bids:  #7 Iowa Western, #6 Monroe, #9 Polk State, #19 Motlow State (whom ICC defeated October 17), and #18 Laramie County. 

National tournament seedings will be announced on Tuesday, November 8 at 12:00 pm (CST) on the NJCAA Network at https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index.