RAVENS WALLOP WAPELLO THURSDAY, BENDER TIPS CAP WITH HAT TRICK

Hillcrest Ravens soccer 4.13.2023 vs Wapello
The Ravens traveled to Wapello and decided to make the trip home early, downing Wapello 10-0 ending the match eight minutes into the second half. Only 11 players were available because of choir and family trips, so with no substitutes the early end was welcome.

The Ravens opened the scoring 2 and half minutes into the game when Grant Bender sent a long direct kick into the box. Seth Ours gathered in the pass and struck the ball in the corner of the goal. About two minutes later a Wapello player knocked the ball down in the box with his hands giving Hillcrest the penalty kick with Bender calmly converted. Next two freshmen combined as Miller beat a man, then passed across the goal to Owen Scott who turned the ball into the goal. Working from a midfield position, Jesse Blossom scored unassisted as he gathered in a Wapello goal kick then chipped the ball over the goalies head to make 4-0. Next Seth Ours beat two defenders, then slotted the ball by the goalie to make it 5-0 halfway through the first half.

Scoring slowed down for a bit but then with 9 minutes left in the half, Grant Bender ran by several defenders and the goalie before passing the ball into the net. A minute later Bender again broke free but this time sent the ball to a wide open Isaac Lybeck who sent the ball by the goalie. The Bender brothers combined on the last goal of the half as Mason Bender found Grant in the box where Grant turned and struck it past the goalie and the 8-0 halftime score.

In the second half Bryce Bailey scored off a long throw-in knocking the ball in from the far post. Mason Bender finished off the scoring on an assist from Rowan Miller and ended the game with 32:18 showing on the clock

Grant Bender finished with 3 goals and 2 assists, Seth Ours 2 goals and 1 assist, Mason Bender 1 goal and 1 assist, with goals by Jesse Blossom, Owen Scott, Bryce Bailey and Mason Bender. Rowan Miller 2 assists.

The defensive line of Mason and Grant Bender, along with Mason Helmuth and Isaac Lybeck played an excellent game. Isaac Birky along with Blossom, and Ours helped control the midfield. Kyle Neuschwander recorded his first shutout of his soccer and goalie career.

Hillcrest moves to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

Goals
37:35 Seth Ours assist Grant Bender
33:00 Grant Bender pk
30:00 Owen Scott, Rowan Miller Assist
24:10 Jesse Blossom
23:00 Seth Ours
9:48 Grant Bender
8:00 Isaac Lybeck, assist Grant Bender
5:00 Grant Bender assist Mason Bender
2nd half
32:55 Bryce Bailey, assist Seth Ours
32:18 Mason Bender, assist Rowan Miller

Articles below submitted by Zach Ulin/KCII
From the opening whistle it was all Hillcrest Academy on the pitch Thursday at Carl McGill Field in Wapello as the Raven soccer team cruised by the Indians 10-0 in a Southeast Iowa Superconference tilt that ended in 48 minutes. Seth Ours started the scoring in the third minute, he struck a second time in the 18th minute. Grant Bender found the back of the net in the seventh minute on a PK and followed that with a pair of conventional goals in the 31st and 35th minutes for his first career hat trick. Other first half strikes for Hillcrest belonged to Owen Scott in the 10th minute, Jesse Blossom in the 16th, and Isaac Lybeck in the 32nd to put the Ravens on top 8-0 at half. Hillcrest finished things quickly after intermission with Bryce Bailey and Mason Bender both scoring in the 48th minute to end the contest early. After the match, Raven seniors Bender and Lybeck talked with KCII Sports about their goals and team performance. Bender said, “We strung a lot of passes together and then sent the ball over the top. It worked nice and guys just made shots. My first goal was just a PK. I pointed at the goalie which told him (where I was going) and he froze. The second one was a one-on-one kind of. The third one, I just dribbled out to the side and shot it, kind of curved it in. It’s my first career hat trick because I usually don’t play up top enough to get one.”