DENVER, Colorado – Laramie County Community College men's soccer team parlayed a staunch defensive effort along with goals from Ricardo Vazquez (Denver, Colorado) in the 28th minute and Max Holland (Hatfield, England) in the 69th minute into a 2-0 victory over Sheridan College on Saturday, Oct. 27 in Denver, Colorado for the Region IX Championship.
The defensive performances of the Golden Eagles' backline of sophomores Aaron Barber (Cheyenne, Wyoming), Quinn Hunt (Cheyenne, Wyoming), Blake Mathews (Fort Collins, Colorado) and freshman Chayce Willett (Cheyenne, Wyoming) along with freshman goalkeeper Brady Mangel (Thornton, Colorado) limited Sheridan, who came into the contest scoring four goals the previous night in the semi-finals to just eight shots en route to collecting the shutout.
LCCC (8-6-1) registered a 17-8 advantage in shots on the evening, including a 9-4 edge on goal to secure the win.
Vazquez, Holland and Cameron Broadhurst (Broomfield, Colorado) paced all players with a team-high three shots for the Golden Eagles, while Dalton Young (Gillette, Wyoming), Nathan Stitt (Torrington, Wyoming) and Waseem Jimenez (Windsor, Colorado) added two strikes. Bryce Taylor led the Generals with a team-high three shots, including two on frame.
In hist 15th start of the season, Mangel made five saves for Laramie County in net en route to earning the clean-sheet triumph. Tyler Ring registered seven stops for Sheridan.
The Golden Eagles maintained the early pace of play in the tilt recording several shots early in the first half. In the 28th minute Young played a beautiful ball into the box that was not cleared out well and ended on the feet of Vazquez who cut in to the middle and buried his shot low giving LCCC the 1-0 lead. Laramie County would take a 1-0 lead into the half. The Golden Eagles owned a 9-3 margin in shots.
Inserted into the line-up midway through the second half Max Holland scored his second goal of the season in the 69th minute as he followed up a rebound shot by Vazquez.
The Golden Eagles advance to the NJCAA West District Championships traveling to Tucson, Ariz., to battle #3 Pima Community College on Friday, Nov. 2. A time has not been set yet.