Needing a positive result to qualify for the American Rivers Conference tournament, the Central College women’s soccer team left no doubt in a 5-0 throttling of Nebraska Wesleyan University Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, the 2022 season ended for the Central College men’s soccer with a 4-1 loss against Nebraska Wesleyan.

For the third time this season, Grace Coates (sophomore, forward, Marion) had a multi-goal performance with her first-half brace. Both of her goals were assisted by Amber Santana (sophomore, forward, Indio, Calif., Shadow Hills HS). Santana had a goal of her own in the second half and was assisted by Coates. Paige Cahill (junior, Castle Rock, Colo., Castle View HS) tied the school record with her 10th assist of the season on an Abby Frey (junior, Mesa, Ariz., Desert Ridge HS) goal 18 minutes in. Cahill scored unassisted in the 47th minute. It was the ninth shutout of the season for the Dutch as Sheila Horstmann (senior, goalkeeper, West Des Moines, Valley HS) made seven saves in goal.

The Dutch women’s soccer team finishes the conference season at .500 (3-3-2) and 9-5-3 overall and clinched a spot in the American Rivers Conference quarterfinals, which will take a place on Saturday. The sight and opponent are to be determined pending other results from around the American Rivers Conference Tuesday.

Despite having a 17-15 advantage on shots taken, the Dutch men’s soccer team (3-11-2, 2-5-1 American Rivers Conference) was outscored by the Prairie Wolves (6-7-3, 4-2-2 conference).

Coleman Manuel (sophomore, forward, Erie, Colo.) scored for the second match in a row, using an assist from Alejo Marcon (freshman, midfielder, Knoxville, Pella Christian HS). He scored in the 42nd minute to bring the Dutch to within a 2-1 margin. An injury-filled campaign has removed all sense of continuity in terms of a starting lineup. The Dutch used their 12th different version in 16 matches as Brandon Banyas (senior, defender, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) became the 20th different player to start a match.

Banyas was one of four Dutch seniors to play their final games for Central along with Michael Handel (defender, Libertyville, Ill., Carmel Catholic HS), Micah Poole (goalkeeper, Bettendorf) and Matthew West (forward, Pleasant Hill, Southeast Polk HS). A fifth senior, Noah Leonard (defender, Spring Hill, Kan.), was unavailable with an injury. A pair of fifth-year seniors, Nathan Casas (forward, Cottage Grove, Minn., East Ridge HS) and Jake Dzarnowski (midfielder, Wheaton, Ill., North HS) also closed out their careers. Dzarnowski was also out with an injury.

The silver lining in all of the injuries is the opportunities for Central’s underclassmen. The Dutch return 15 field players who logged at least 200 minutes.