The Hawks had a slow start, giving up two goals to the Tigers within the first seven minutes of play. Marshalltown scored their first goal two minutes in with a ball passed to the back post. They scored again five minutes later off a corner kick.
"After that, we settled in and started to play more like us," said Chad Miller, Northeast coach. "As the first half went on, we started creating great chances."
A header by Northeast's Victor Galterio off a corner kick went right to the goalie, and Daniel Isaza and Tiago Cunha da Costa also had great shots. Arthur Lopes made a run to break away to a 1-versus-1 with the goalie but was stopped. Score at halftime was 2-0.
Miller said his team had another slow start in the second half and took time to gain momentum. Galterio scored an unassisted goal to bring the score to 2-1 with 12 minutes left in the game.
With just over two minutes left on the clock, the Hawks got a corner kick and brought everyone with the exception of one defender up to try to even the score. The Tigers got the ball first, had a quick counter on Northeast and scored their final goal.
Northeast had eight shots on goal to Marshalltown's nine. Massimiliano Simonazzi had seven saves for the Hawks.
"I am extremely proud of how the guys played," Miller said. "Marshalltown is one of the top teams in the country, and we knew we would have to play a perfect game to win. We came pretty close. Our boys played their hearts out. I would have loved to the give the sophomores one more game, but they went out in a good one. I am proud of them all."
Marshalltown (13-2 overall, 8-2 in conference) advances to play Iowa Western Community College on Tuesday.
The Hawks end the season with a 7-12-1 record.
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