Boxscore
DUBUQUE – Senior defender Kyle McKenna (Davenport)t scored his third and fourth goals of the season, guiding Wartburg College past Central 2-1 in the semifinals of the 2010 Iowa Conference Championships.
McKenna got a one-on-one opportunity in the 64th minute and hit it into the right side of the Dutch net for a 1-0 lead. After Central evened the count less than seven minutes later on a header, the Orange and Black took the lead for good in the 73rd minute when senior midfielder Josh Palmer (Dubuque) fed McKenna for the game-winner.
The Knights (11-7), reaching their ninth consecutive league tournament finale and eighth straight against Loras, also received a big effort in net from senior goalkeeper Brandon Busbee (Hiawatha). Busbee earned two saves in the win.
Wartburg, the tourney’s top seed, faces the second-seeded Duhawks at 7 p.m. inside the Rock Bowl in Dubuque Saturday, Nov. 6.
Notes – A win Saturday night would mark the sixth time in nine tries that the Knights claimed an IIAC tourney title and lock up the program’s ninth consecutive NCAA Division III national tournament berth. … The earlier season meeting between Wartburg and Loras saw a goal from junior forward Furo Tufa of St. Paul, Minn., be the decider in a 1-0 Wartburg win in Waverly Oct. 8. … Knights’ head coach Kirk Artist has been part of seven of the previous league tournament finale appearances. He played in four and was an assistant coach in three.
