The Butler Grizzlies Soccer Team put one foot in the national tournament semifinals when they knocked off the fourth seeded Iowa Western in the first game of pool play in Daytona, Florida on Monday night.

The Grizzlies found the net in the eighteenth minute when Natalie Amaya chipped in a ball past the goalkeeper following a poor Reivers clearance. The goal was Natalie's seventh of the year. The Grizzlies, who were on their back foot in the minutes preceding the goal, found their footing after scoring and were very unlucky not to find the net a second time going into halftime. Butler had multiple chances off of set pieces to find the crucial second goal but were unsuccessful.

The Grizzlies had a few early chances to score in the second, but they spent most of the half behind the ball, as Iowa Western searched for the equalizer. The Reivers had just three shots in the first half, but played much better in the second, finishing the game with eight shots. They thought they had found it in the 72nd minute when the ball hit the back of the net, but it was disallowed due to a handball. The Grizzlies managed to see the rest of the game out, clinching the clean sheet behind Kyrah Klumpp's four saves. 

The two teams were almost even in the stat category, with the Grizzlies outshooting Iowa Western 14 to 11. But the Grizzlies capitalized on their best chance and it would prove to be the difference. 

With the win, the Grizzlies jumped to 1-0 in pool play. They will finish pool play tomorrow when they face No. 5 Salt Lake in a rematch of last spring's national tournament match in Georgia. A win would put the Grizzlies through to the semifinals of the tournament. Butler and Salt Lake will kickoff at 5:00pm ET from Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, FL.