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NWC Finishes Level Against Defending Region IX Champs
BY RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
Like any good coach, Northwest College men’s soccer skipper Rob Hill wanted the victory. That said, he wasn’t exactly upset by his team’s 2-2 tie against Region IX foe Laramie County Community College on Thursday.
“You just played better than the supposedly best team in our Region,” Hill told his side after 90 minutes of regulation soccer and two overtime periods ended Northwest’s first-ever home match in a deadlock.
The result left the Trappers with a 1-1-1 overall record as the team traveled to Western Nebraska for a Saturday contest. The Trappers are also scheduled to play today, Tuesday, at Western Wyoming. Both dates featured men’s and women’s doubleheaders. Both contests also count toward the Trappers’ Region IX record.
On Thursday, Northwest was able to shake off an early Laramie goal to tie the contest roughly 12 minutes into the game. Brazilian freshman Leonardo Medeiros fought off a Laramie defender during a run down the middle of the attacking zone to create space for himself and beat the keeper with a right footer high into the net.
Laramie regained the lead later in the half on a penalty kick after the Trappers were whistled for a hand ball inside the penalty area. The play came as a bit of bad luck for Northwest, occurring after an attempt to clear the ball from the defensive zone deflected off a Laramie player and into the arm of a Northwest defender.
Northwest had a penalty kick of its own in the waning minutes of the first half after midfielder Marco Tulio Andrande was taken down late inside the penalty area. Andrande’s attempt to beat the keeper to the left was deflected. The freshman sent the carom high over the cross bar.
“We need to capitalize on the penalty kick,” Hill said afterwards. “Most of the time, those are automatic. This time we didn’t convert.” The Trappers’ penalty kick miss was the last serious scoring attempt of the first half for either side. Northwest tallied the only goal of the second half on a corner kick. Cody sophomore Jonathon Chavez got to a header right in front of the Laramie goal and flicked the ball into a wide open net to knot the contest.
Northwest hit the side post with a shot attempt later in the= half, but the two teams eventually went to overtime.
The overtime period was a tale of two halves. Northwest College largely controlled the first half of extra time, forcing Laramie to make a number of saves. By the second half of overtime, it appeared the Trappers may have lost a step as the game’s final 10 minutes were played largely in Northwest’s defensive zone with the team successfully guarding against multiple corner and free kick chances.
Northwest and Laramie will play again with the Trappers heading to Cheyenne for an Oct. 15 meeting.
A crowd of approximately 100 people turned out to enjoy nearperfect conditions for the Trappers’ first-ever home soccer contest. Northwest will not play another home contest until Sept. 16, when the Laramie County Community College women travel to Powell. The game will mark the women’s home debut for the Trappers.
Both teams will host North Idaho on Sept. 18.