Golden Eagles punch ticket to second straight national tournament with 3-0 win over Otero

Golden Eagles punch ticket to second straight national tournament with 3-0 win over Otero

CHEYENNE, WY - The #19 Laramie County Community College women's soccer team finished off their Region IX title run with a dominating 3-0 win over Otero College on Saturday afternoon at the LCCC Soccer Fields, punching their ticket to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Wichita, Kansas beginning on November 12th. 

The scoring was opened early by LCCC when they earned a corner kick in the second minute that was turned into a goal when Macey Woolcock bent the ball into the top corner for the 1-0 lead. The goal was the second of the postseason that Woolcock has scored from a corner kick. 

LCCC added another late goal in the first half in the 37th minute when a Woolcock pass ahead to Danielle O'Leary gave the freshman a one-on-one versus the keeper and she rolled one under the goalie from 18 yards out to push the lead to 2-0 heading into the half. 

The Golden Eagles came out in a more defensive settup in the second half to defend their lead and Otero tried to take control of the match but were unable to convert on the few chances that they had, outshooting LCCC in the match 14-10 but only finding the frame with six, all of which were saved by Kiara Kershaw who was able to close out the postseason with her eighth clean sheet of the season and without allowing a goal in the entire postseason push. 

The offense for the Golden Eagles did have one more thing to say in the match when with 16 minutes remaining, Woolcock paired up with O'Leary for a second time. On only the second corner kick of the match for LCCC, Woolcock put a masterful play into the box that O'Leary finished for her second goal of the postseason and put a final nail in the coffin with LCCC up 3-0.

The win give LCCC their 14th Region IX Women's Soccer title in team history and their 14th trip to the National Tournament. 

Woolcocks one goal and two assist performance adds to her amazing postseason run where she has scored or assisted on six of the seven goals this year for the Golden Eagles.

In net, Kershaw's six saves in the match move her within two saves of the all-time record for Golden Ealge women's soccer of 221. If Kershaw plays all of two matches in Wichita, the sophomore will also move into the top spot in the record books for most minutes in goal. 

The bracket for the NJCAA tournament will be released on Tuesday. Until then, more information on the national tournament can be found at www.golccc.com