Athlete of the Week

By William Musgrove

Men's Soccer

The Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team is this year's Region XI tourney winners, beating Iowa Western 1-0 in the finale. This win is due in part to amazing performances that Marshalltown's players produced through the tournament. Yet, one player that they couldn't have done without is Javier Lopez, a native from Granada Spain.

Lopez would be a key player all through the tournament, leading his team to victory on more than one occasion. He proved that he is one of Marshalltown main offensive threats by scoring the winning goal against NIACC in the first round and scoring the winning goal, in the 88th minute, against Iowa Central in the quarterfinals.

However, Lopez is more than just the offensive catalyst of the team, he can play defense as well. Anchoring the defense, he helped Marshalltown hold .96 goals against average.

With the win in the Region IX tourney Marshalltown punched their ticket to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Albany. That is something that Lopez and the whole team can be proud of.