Eduardo Oliveira has spent three seasons at Western Nebraska Community College and this season has been one of success after the sophomore helped the Cougars to their first NJCAA National Tournament berth in the soccer program’s history.
                “This is really important. We just made history so we just want to go there and have fun, compete and see what we can do,” Oliveira said.
                The Cougars will open the national tournament in Wichita, Kansas, with pool play action on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. against No. 2 Tyler Junior College. Their second pool play match will be Monday at 11:30 a.m. against No. 7 Indian Hills Community College.
                The winner of all four pools will advance to Thursday’s semifinals with the championship slated for Saturday. Pool play matches can be watched on the NJCAA Network while the semis and finals televised on ESPNplus.
                Oliveira said the team is going in as an underdog and that suits them just fine. He said there is no pressure on the team.
                “I think we are the underdogs and that is good for us,” he said. “They don’t believe that we will be good. We are going to show them that we can beat them.”
                At the beginning of the year, some didn’t believe in the team after tying Northwest College and then falling to Iowa Western Community College and Indian Hills. Iowa Western is the No. 1 seed at the national tournament.
                Oliveria said the team made a huge turnaround from the beginning of the season, which included a 6-0 loss to Indian Hills.
                “At the beginning of the year we weren’t prepared for the moment, like we didn’t have the right mentality,” he said. “Now we are a different team and we can beat those guys.”
                As for what Oliveira has done this season is one itself. The forward from Brazil has scored 13 goals this season and had five assists. As a freshman player a year ago, he had nine goals and five assists.
                He has scored two goals in four matches, including the season-opening win against Utah State Eastern. He then had two goals against Northeastern Junior College in a 3-1 win, Lamar Community College in a 6-0 win, and two against Laramie County Community College in the 3-1 win.
                Oliveira is glad he decided to return for a third year, Oliveira red-shirted his first year at WNCC (2022-23).
                “I am really glad because I had a really big injury last year so I am happy to be back to achieve all this success,” he said.
                His soccer talents started when he was two years old back in Brazil and he never could see himself without a soccer ball
                “When I was two years old and my whole life I have been playing soccer,” he said. “Soccer is my life. I never saw myself playing.”
                                His successful season isn’t finished yet. This week Oliveira was named Region IX’s Offensive Player of the Year. His teammate Guilherme Lindolfo was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Those two were also First Team All-Region selections.
                The Cougars also had a swarm of other players that received All-Region honors, including Michael Escobar Honorable Mention), Maxime Niyibaho (Second Team), Isrrael Rodriquez (Honorable Mention), Lucas Ovalle (Second Team), Anthony Lemus (Honorable Mention), Paul Denz (Second Tean), and Owen Henderson (Second Team).
                “We are more than a team; we are family,” Oliveira said. “Everyone is supporting each other and our coaches are always believing in us and putting in the hard work for us. We trust everyone on the team.”
                Come Sunday, the team will begin their trek for a national tournament. It is after the national tournament, Oliveira will start the process to figure out his plans for the next two years.
                “Right now I am just trying to be focused on the nationals, but I am excited to move on to a big one,” he said. “I just want to say thank you to the school and the coaches for everything for believing in me and the players on the team.”