CHEYENNE, WY – The defense once again stood tall for the #13 Laramie County Community College men's soccer team as they marched to their sixth win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Lamar Community College on Friday afternoon at the LCCC Soccer Fields.
The scoring took some time to develop between the two sides but there were plenty of offensive chances and those attacks would result in the opening score.
After a ball from Gilberto Vargas missed off the left post, Alvin Udoto found himself in the right spot to finish the opening goal of the game and put LCCC up 1-0 in the 15th minute.
"It felt good," Udoto said. "I had a bit of a slow start to the season in terms of scoring goals but when your team is winning you don't really think about that. I was happy to come today and get a few goals for myself and I feel like I can move forward from this now."
LCCC kept a steady barrage of shots on the Lamar net though the first half, taking 17 total shots but Bryant Garcia-Santiago was up to the challenge, making eleven saves in the match and keeping the Golden Eagles at bay.
In fact, the only other ball that found the net came on a penalty kick from Udoto after Cooper Johnson had found a way to draw a penalty on the left side of the 18-yard box after he was able to beat his defender to the end line.
Johnson handed off the PK to Udoto who calmly finished the shot to the right of the keeper for his second goal of the game in the 62nd minute.
"It was a really good play. He got the PK, and he was really happy for me to take it so I'm really grateful that I have teammates that are unselfish and willing to do whatever it takes to get the win," Udoto said.
Udoto almost finished off a hat trick minutes later when he set a ball just off of the top of the crossbar that the keeper just got a hand to to deny him.
From there, it was more of the same story. The LCCC defense held Lamar at bay and the Golden Eagles working to possess the ball.
"The defensive line is one of the strongest parts of our team," Udoto said. "We have really solid defenders and goalkeepers and one of the main things we try to do on this team is defend first. Chances will come in the attack but you can't lose if you don't concede goals."
By games end, Lamar had only managed to take seven seven total shots and only one of those would find the frame, while also finding the glove of Luke Hyatt who finished his third clean sheet in a row and fourth of the season for the Golden Eagle men.
Nearly every member of the roster who was available was able to see the field in the game, giving plenty of rest to the Golden Eagles as they get ready for round two on Saturday.
LCCC will host NJC at 1:00 pm to close out the weekend and end a four-game homestand before returning to the road with matches against Otero College and Trinidad State College next week on the road.
More information on Saturday's match as well as the full schedule for the Golden Eagles can be found at www.golccc.com.