Twenty-four hours after knocking off No. 18 Utah State-Eastern, the Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team could only muster a 3-3 tie with Northwest College on Friday at the Landers Soccer Complex.
                Friday’s contest was one where the Cougars started strong, but faded late.
                It took the Cougars less than 20 seconds to score the first goal as Maxime Niyibaho dished a pass to Eduardo Oliveira and the sophomore put the ball past the goalkeeper in the upper-right corner for the 1-0 lead.
                WNCC went up 2-0 with 20 minutes to play in the opening half when Guilherme Lindolfo scored after getting the ball from Oliveira to make it 2-0.
                After that, things went Northwest’s way as the Trappers scored on a penalty kick when Pedro Teixeira scored with 18:18 to play to make it 2-1. WNCC also had to play a man down because of a red card.
                Things evened out, though, as Northwest went a man down after one of their players was issued a red card and both teams played 10-on-10 the rest of the half and into the second half. Northwest tied the game at 2-2 with 12 minutes to play in the first half on a Kasey Smith goal off an assist from Teixeira.
                The second half saw WNCC score quick when Isrrael Rodriguez scored just three minutes into the second half for a 3-2 lead.
                The lead stayed in favor of the Cougars until the 35th minute. That was when things got exciting. Northwest was issued a penalty kick and Tomas Guzman made a brilliant save to thwart the goal. But, on the play, WNCC was issued a red card giving Northwest another penalty kick and this time Pedro Nunez put the ball into the back of the net.
                For the final 35 minutes, WNCC played with just nine players to Northwest’s 10 and came close of taking the lead with 25:39 to play as shot just went high. Three minutes later, WNCC had another shot that just missed.
                Northwest had two golden opportunities to score in the final two minutes with back-to-back corner kicks, but the Cougars defense stepped up and avoided the goals to collect the tie.
                WNCC had 10 shots in the contest compared to seven for Northwest. Northwest and WNCC each had three corner kicks.
                The WNCC men will be back in action with a scrimmage in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Monday and they return to regular season next weekend when they travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to face two ranked teams in Iowa Western Community College and Indian Hills Community College.
 
WNCC women fall to Northwest in a competitive contest
 
                The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team scored two goals, but it wasn’t enough as Northwest College scored three goals in the final 15 minutes to take a 4-2 win Friday morning at the Landers Soccer Complex.
                The contest was a battle from the get-go and neither team scored for the first 34 minutes. WNCC finally put together a nice run that saw Danae Montalvo take a corner kick from Amanda Duarte and gave Ariel Veliz a perfect pass for the goal with 10:57 to play in the first half.
                WNCC kept playing tough defense and stopped plenty of the Trappers shots. With 5:11 to play, Northwest’s Tessa Hyland took a free kick and sent it directly to the net and it went into the net to tie the match. That is where it stood at halftime.
                The second half saw WNCC duplicate Northwest’s first goal. With 31:48 to play, Duarte lined up for a free kick and her shot went right into the goal for the 2-1 lead.
                With 28:01 to play, Northwest scored, but it was nullified because of an offsides call. The Trappers finally tied the match at 2-2 when Northwest’s Nayelli Aguayo took a shot and had the ball take a perfect bounce that just bounced over the Cougar goalkeeper Dory Jenson’s out-reached arms to tie the game with 15:13 to play.
                Northwest went ahead with 11:05 to play when Aguayo got her second goal to put the Trappers up 3-2. Northwest added an insurance goal with two minutes to play as Brooke Travers scored.
                Northwest finished with 26 shots to just three for WNCC. WNCC had just one corner kick to the Trappers five. Jenson made 12 saves in net.
                WNCC will be back in action for a scrimmage at Rapid City, South Dakota, against Black Hills State on Monday and then they will head to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to face Iowa Western Community College and Indian Hills Community College this weekend.