EVANS, Ga.- Fourth-seeded Polk State Soccer could not withstand a second-half surge from ninth-seeded Iowa Western Community College, as the Eagles dropped their opening contest of the NJCAA Tournament on Sunday evening, 2-1.

Iowa Western used a pair of scores in the second half to pull out the victory and put itself in the drivers seat in pool play. With the loss, Polk State (17-2) fell to 0-1 in Pool D play.

It did not take long for the Eagles to find pay dirt, as sophomore midfielder Kayla Banks headed in a corner kick from Raisa Lugo in the sixth minute to put Polk ahead 1-0. The tally was Banks' fourth of the season.

Despite trailing in the shot count 7-2, the Eagles took their 1-0 lead over the Reivers into the half.

Iowa Western found the equalizer in the 49th minute off a score from Hanna Schimmer. Polk sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Nicholls made three saves following the goal to keep the match even.

A game-changing foul in the box was called against Polk with 5:08 remaining in regulation. This directly led to the winning goal via a successfully converted penalty kick by Communi Marta Llopis.

The seven shots, including three on frame, that the Eagles were held to in the match were season-lows.

"Obviously, this is not the result we wanted tonight, but I am still incredibly proud of the effort our girls put forth tonight," said Polk State Head Coach Jessica Belli. "Credit to a very good Iowa Western team for coming out and playing solid soccer. We won't hang our heads and will now shift our focus to getting a result against Seminole (OK) State."

The Eagles will look to keep their championship hopes alive in their second pool match on Tuesday against fifth-seeded Seminole State College. Match time is set for 5:30 p.m.