“I’m very proud of their effort,” head coach Rafael Martinez said. “I’m very proud of the couple of practice sessions that we had prior to this game. They were solid and very focused and intense and I think that carried into this game.”

The 15th-ranked Tigers (7-3) scored their first goal in the 38th minute in the first half. Aleix Viladot scored off a corner kick from Kotaro Hirokawa.

“For the corner kick, we were trying to attack the six, which is a small area because we felt we had an advantage in the movements and in the screens and blocks that we were creating,” Martinez said. “There were a couple [shots] that were very close. In the one that Aleix scored he did a very good job of getting free from his defender and just putting the ball inside. He played with his chest to ensure that he was going to make contact with the ball and just push that ball in was excellent.”

From there, MCC maintained momentum and held Iowa Central (6-4, 1-2) to just two corner kicks and two shots on goal, both of which were saved by goalie Matteo Crescente.

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE - MCC’s Aleix Viladot, right, celebrates his goal with teammate Matheus Pereira, left, and others during the first half of Saturday’s soccer game at Marshalltown Community College. The No. 15 Tigers defeated Iowa Central 2-0.

“I thought that we were very solid defensively, especially,” Martinez said. “There was always an extra player to cover somebody else. When [Iowa Central] beat one of our players there was somebody else there to make it difficult for them. I thought that we were very compact and very solid defensively and that allowed us to have more possession in areas that we are dangerous.”

Late in the second half, MCC put the game away with a second goal from Kenlove Solon. Yushi Nagao broke away and found the wide-open Solon, who converted the chance in the 80th minute.

“Coach told me to go in and told me to give everything I have for the game and for the team and that’s what I did,” Solon said. “What I saw was my teammate making a perfect run. My other teammate with the ball saw me wide open and I made the perfect run. He was unselfish and found me and so all I had to do was put the ball in the net which I did.”

MCC got off 14 shots with nine of them being on goal and also had five corner kicks.

“In the second half, we were trying to be compact and go into transition,” Martinez said. “We had several situations where we could have had a better look on the goal maybe score a second goal to feel better with a little more security. That’s where Kenlove went in. He saw the moment. He followed the play well and made a good touch and he put it away. Happy for him because he probably hasn’t played as much as he would like.”

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE

After dropping two back-to-back games for the first time since 2014, the Marshalltown win moves the Tigers to fourth place in the ICCAC standings with a 2-2 conference record.

“Coming into this game we all needed this win,” Solon said. “Our fan base needed it, Marshalltown needed it and especially me — I needed it. [Our] mindset was different coming in. We wanted to be focused but not over [think] it. Coach gave us the perfect plan and we put it on the field and we got the win.”

“It’s a weight off of everybody but the job is not done. We have to keep moving and playing better.”

MCC will head to the road and play Scott Community College on Wednesday at 3 p.m.