Normal, Ill. - It didn't take long to realize that once Gabe Carreno's 16th-ranked ICC men's soccer team (1-0-0) stepped off the bus and onto the pitch at the Corn Crib that it would be quite the balmy one in Normal. The heat index at kickoff was 101, for that matter. Alas, the Cougars and the D2 #6 Heartland Hawks (1-1-0) didn't need mother nature to indicate that it would be a hotly contested battle between the two rivals on Sunday night. After the Cougars took a 2-0 lead early in the second half, Heartland answered, but Juan Carreno netted the goal that iced the 3-1 win for the Cougars on the road.

ONE HALF, ONE GOAL
It's quite simple, actually. Tomas Fontes was critical between the pipes for the Cougars tonight. By game's end, he'd fended off three shots on goal, but a couple shots from the Hawks had already been sent his way, albeit to no avail. Now, ICC had made a couple of substitutions, bringing Sebastian Stanojevic and Bertram Jensen on within the game's first 20 minutes. 

Not too long after Jensen was onto the pitch, the Cougars were able to get their first corner kick of the game. After about a minute, it was the leg of one Jesus Perez that would give ICC a 1-0 lead on the first goal of the 2023 season. 

It, without a doubt, was not a lack of effort from Heartland. In fact, the Hawks rattled off a couple more shots and had a corner within the first few minutes after the Cougar goal. 

However, from there, it was actually relatively calm. One card was handed out, plus the occasional foul, but ultimately, only two shots on goal occurred after Perez's goal before the scoreboard read a 1-0 ICC lead at the half.

TAKING CONTROL
Now it was pretty clear out of the gates that adjustments had been made during halftime. For the Cougars, how you maintain the momentum you have with a 1-0 lead on the road. For the Hawks, how aggressive you should be to try and effectively erase that conceded goal. 

It took all of three minutes of second half action for Fontes to face yet another shot on goal from the Hawks, and continuing his quality night in goal, he'd save it. 

Roughly nine minutes later, though, came a key opportunity. After a Hawks foul, it set up a penalty kick for the Cougars, to be taken by Jesus Perez. Perez would send it past the Hawks keeper and just like that, ICC held a 2-0 road lead by way of Perez goals.

Heartland was not going down without a fight. They would make it a 2-1 game just seven minutes later. 

With the Cougars still holding on to that one-goal lead, it was the aforementioned Carreno goal that secured the win and gave ICC it's first win over Heartland during the Gabe Carreno era, as they were (0-2) last season.

HE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM COACH GABE CARRENO
On limiting Heartland to one goal, particularly Tomas Fontes's efforts:
"Tommy is a goalkeeper and a half. He has all the capacities to play hard games. He shows a lot of maturity, and that brings a lot to the table. He had to be patient last year, and now he's letting all that energy show."

On not pulling off the gas after the Jesus Perez penalty kick:
"We never felt confident. We were always engaged. Jesus and the rest of the guys all know what being up two goals can do to a team. The game had many moments, some in which Heartland were in possession of the tempo - we just trusted ourselves and kept a focused mentality."

On the spreading of the wealth in the shots category (Five Players took the Eight Shots):
"Toni (MSOC alum Antoni Plomer) was our go-to player when we needed goals last year. Losing Toni mean that we would have to be very creative on the attack and give everyone the chance to make more assertive decisions in the last third. The guys manifested that idea, and ended up creating opportunities in the flow of play, from opposition errors and set pieces."

On what sort of momentum in the game the final goal from Juan Carreno gave the team late:
"The audience might have felt in control, but both benches knew the game could have changed at any moment. Scoring that header off a set piece was fair. We had three clear occasions before that set piece to add to the score, so scoring off that play was fair, and a relief."

On not being satisfied with this win, especially considering Heartland comes to ICC in just a few weeks:
"We respect them. It's a rivalry, and this was a clear example of what that game means to everyone. Hosting them will only be an advantage if we get our crowd out at the game once again. Our fans were fantastic."

GOAL SCORING PLAYS
22:28 | H1 | Jesus Perez (assist Jacob Turner)
57:11 | H2 | Jesus Perez (PK)
78:17 | H2 | Juan Carreno (assist Carlos Lobo)

TEAM STAT COMPARISON
Goals Scored | ICC 3, Heartland 1
Assists | Heartland 1, ICC 0
Shots | Heartland 9, ICC 8
Shots on Goal | ICC 4, Heartland 4
Corner Kicks | Heartland 4, ICC 2
Fouls | Heartland 8, ICC 15
Saves | ICC 3, Heartland 1

WHAT'S UP NEXT?
vs. Western Iowa Tech (0-1-0)
Thursday, August 24th - 2PM
@ CougarPlex - East Peoria, Ill.
Watch Live (YouTube)

Fun Fact: Western Iowa Tech is in its first year of collegiate athletics.