IVCC and Black Hawk College finished in a 0-0 tie after a highly aggressive rivalry-driven matchup led to injuries on Wednesday evening.

     Although no ball found itself hitting the back of the net at Rotary this past Wednesday, many near-goals were dealt from both teams. Notably, in the second half Eagles Midfielder Fabricio Barron (21) shot a free kick that grazed the fingertips of Black Hawks goalkeeper Xander Oswin-Roe (77) just enough to deflect a goal.

     The Eagles had another near fall in that half when Freshman Angel Lemus (7) punted the ball so hard from inside the box that he let out a loud grunt as Black Hawks goalkeeper Oswin-Roe (77) performed another save (9 for the game) totaling 43 for the season in 5 games played. That save put him just one spot above fourth-place Chris Slawek (40) of McHenry County College, in the Goalie leaderboard for Region 4 of the NJCAA.

     Xander was not the only notable keeper in Wednesday’s game, Illinois Valley’s Jabulile Mooketsi (29) tied his college career high for saves in a game putting up 12 for the 4th time in 2 years (49th save in 25-26 season). His consistency in saves per-game (8.2 in the 2025-26 season) has led him to share the title of #1 ranked goalie in the Region alongside Wilbur Wrights, Leandro Esquivel (1).

     Although the Eagles defense put on a great show, offensively they took a few blows.

     When asked about the Eagles offensive efforts, Tim Cottongim said “We created some chances to score, so that was a plus. That has been a struggle so far this year. Unfortunately, some of these were fairly easy chances, but we failed to finish them.”

     Additionally the Black Hawks received 3 total Yellow Cards Wednesday with Nic Baldwin (4), Felipe Sasso (10) and Saul Banos (33) receiving one apiece. 

    The aggressive nature of the match led to the substitution of Eagles midfielder, Angel Lemus (7) who left the game after rolling his left ankle and was later seen on the bench icing the wound. Teammate Casrick Grant was also a victim of the game after being forearmed in the throat by Black Hawks Kevin Franco (25) leading to another substitution. The altercation resulted in no call from Officials.

     “Sometimes when games get physical like that it is because the official has been inconsistent and allows it to get that way. Both of our players are ok, and are expected to play in the next game,” said Coach Cottingim.

     Wednesday’s draw pushes the Eagles to a season record of 2 wins, 3 losses with a single tie (2-3-1). Placing them T-14th in their division just under the 13th place Malcom X Hawks. Illinois Valley was looking to take that title from the Hawks at their place this Saturday up in the Windy City of Chicago at noon, although it has been reported that Malcom X had scheduling issues. The game has been postponed to October 8 with the start time marked as TBA. The Eagles next game is scheduled for Tuesday against the 3-2 Parkland Cobras in Champaign.