POWELL, WY – The Laramie County Community College men's soccer team dropped a match against the Northwest College Trappers on Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale, falling 2-1 in a match that had major implications on the seeding for the Golden Eagles entering the Region IX postseason.
Things started well for the men, taking the early advantage on a goal in the 15th minute from Cooper Johnson when he finished a cross from Josh Rodriguez-Garcia to put the Golden Eagles in front and give them command.
LCCC would take six total shots in the opening half as they controlled the tempo of the game and the defense kept Northwest from taking many to answer, limiting them to just a pair and none on goal.
After the halftime break, things would tighten up when a free kick in the 57th minute from Pedro Nunez slipped just under the crossbar, evading the grasp of Luke Hyatt who nearly deflected it away, to draw the Trappers even at 1-1.
The attack for Northwest wasn't done, and they found some late offense in the 86th minute when a deep ball from their goalie allowed for Nunez to break free for a second time, slipping past the LCCC back line and setting him up one on one with Hyatt, and the Trapper was able to pop a ball past the final line of defense to score the go-ahead goal.
LCCC didn't have the time left on the clock to answer back and fell in a heartbreaking contest to close the season.
The year doesn't end for the Golden Eagles though. In fact, it really hits the peak now as the postseason begins and LCCC enters the field as the fifth overall seed in the Region IX standings.
After a tiebreaker for third and fourth, LCCC finds themselves with a return trip to Powell this weekend where they will take on Northwest College for a second time looking to flip the script. Kickoff of the match is scheduled for 2:30 pm from Powell.
Streaming information can be found at www.golccc.com.