EDITOR'S NOTE: Second in a two-part series looking at local college soccer programs.

In a history-making 2-1 overtime soccer victory over Grand View Saturday afternoon, the unique team chemistry of the Mount Mercy men was on full display.

The Mustangs tied the match when former Jefferson three-sport star Sid Beck set up a goal by Josip Druzijanic of Split, Croatia.

They won it with a screamer by Juan Maffey from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Meanwhile, former Prairie starting quarterback Josh Putz stopped eight shots as goal keeper to preserve an upset over the once-beaten and nationally sixth-ranked Vikings.

The stunner marked Mount Mercy’s first-ever win against Grand View and a  Top 10 opponent. And it clinched the first Midwest Collegiate Conference men's soccer championship in school history.

It was also a showcase of how longtime coach Amir Hadzic has built a powerhouse program with a mix of local high school talent and international recruits.

“Over the years, I’ve established good soccer relationships in many other countries,” says the Bosnian native, who came to coach at Mount Mercy 17 years ago.  He cements those contacts with regular recruiting trips overseas.

Hadzic is also the university’s coordinator of international student services, so he’s in position to help integrate the players into the Amercan college culture.

Besides, as a longstanding high school coach at both Prairie and Xavier as well as a pioneer in local club soccer, he has deep ties in the Metro sports community.

“I have a lot of personal connections,” he says. “I’ve coached a lot of these kids in high school, and a lot of them have attended the Mount Mercy’s camps.”

With this dual pipeline, his current Mustang men’s roster is peppered with no less than 15 former Metro prep stars and an equal number from nine different European and South Amercan nations.

One player, senior Leandro Martinez of Montevideo, Uruguay,  falls in both categories. He played with Linn-Mar as a foreign exchange student and returned as an academic all-conference marketing management major at Mount Mercy.

“I became friends with many people in this town,“ he says. “And I wanted to play for Amir.”

Blending the diverse soccer styles and even native languages is a challenge, especially this season with 15 new team members.

“It took us awhile to play together,” says senior Ben Reinhart, who attended Cedar Valley Christian but played soccer at Washington.  “But we’ve adapted really well and have hit our stride at the right time.”

The Mustang men open their conference postseason tournament Saturday at home as the No. 1 seed.

On the women’s side, meanwhile, fifth-year Coach Raven Blackwell is taking advantage of her long involvement in all levels of local soccer to populate the squad with top-notch talent.

She started in club soccer as a little girl (once under the tutelage of current  Coe Coach Homer Screws) and later starred at Kennedy and then at the University of Northern Iowa.  She’s been on the professional staff at the local Heartland soccer club and coached at Xavier before moving to Mount Mercy.

“The caliber of players locally and the quality of the coaching have grown tremendously since I started playing,” Blackwell says.  “You just look at all the high school teams that are making it to the state tournaments. There are now a lot of really strong programs.”

As an admissions representative at Mount Mercy, she’s encouraging more local prep girls to continue their academic and athletic careers with scholarships right here at home.

Sophomore Cara Evans of Jefferson, for instance, comes from a long line of local soccer luminaries. Her father Matt started the Mount Mercy men’s soccer program as its first coach. Her brother and sister played there, and her sister was once one of Blackwell’s teammates.  Cara herself started club soccer at the age of eight.

“I always pretty much knew I’d be coming to school here,” she says. “The education comes first, and the soccer is kind of a bonus.

“And playing with so many girls I already knew makes it a lot more comfortable.”