The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team captured the Region IX regular season conference title and now they will be aiming for their goal of a Region IX title when the Cougars host Laramie County Community College on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex.
Both teams enter the contest at 8-4-2. WNCC was 7-1-1 in conference play while the Golden Eagles were 5-3-1.
WNCC had a week off as one of the top two teams in the conference. WNCC won the conference for the third time in the 20 years of the program's existence. The last time the Cougars won the conference was in 2018 and they lost in the first-round at home to LCCC 1-0.
The other times they were conference champions was in 2014 and they were upset by Central Community College-Columbus 4-1 at Landers soccer complex. The first time winning conference was in 2003 when they won regionals, which was also conference play.
Maxime Niyibaho, a sophomore midfielder, said they know that any team is capable of winning so they need to come ready to play.
"The objective this year is to show that we have what it takes to win the championship," Niyibaho said. "We finished the regular season in first place, which gives us the advantage of being able to play at home and that is what we wanted. Now that we've got what we aske for, we want to finish what we started."
So what does this season look like for the regional tournament? Well, the Cougars are the overall No. 1 seed and if they win Saturday they would host the Region IX finals on November 2. Casper is the second seed with a 10-5-1 overall record. Casper is ranked 19th in the latest NJCAA polls. The No. 3 seed, Otero, has a 6-2-4 record and they received votes for this week's polls. WNCC has been unranked all season.
In first round games last week, Otero blanked Central Wyoming 3-0 while LCCC, the No. 5 seed, upset No. 4 Northwest in penalty kicks. LCCC won the PK shootout 5-3 to advance to the semifinals against WNCC. The other semifinal has Otero at Casper College on Saturday.
WNCC and LCCC have faced each other once this season with the Cougars winning 3-1 at Cheyenne.
Niyibaho said they know that LCCC will fight to the end in the contest so they have to stay composed and collected come Saturday.
"I know that LCCC has a strong team with a lot of quality and they've recruited a lot of young players from the same school," he said. "I don't know any of them personally. In sporting terms, last year we played them twice, winning both games. This year we played them during the championship with a favorable result."
WNCC has beaten the Golden Eagles three straight times and are currently unbeaten at home over the last 14 matches. The last time the Cougars lost at home was on September 23 when they lost to Casper 1-0 in the 72nd minute.
In past playoff action, the Cougars defeated LCCC last year in the first-round 2-1 before losing to Otero in the semifinals. Overall, in the playoffs since 2003, WNCC is 2-8 against LCCC with the only wins coming in 2023 and 2003. The 2003 win was for the Region IX championship.
Niyibaho said he believes they have prepared well over the last two weeks to get ready for Saturday semifinal showdown.
"I think we prepared well for our match against LCCC," he said. "Our watchwords are to respect our opponents and play with our qualities and confidence. They played last week and won, so they'll be coming with plenty of confidence and we're prepared for that."
WNCC has had 12 different players scored a goal for them this season. WNCC is led by Eduarado Oliveira, who has scored 12 goals. WNCC also has three goals each from Alvaro Abeal, Paul Denz, and Anthony Lemus. Guilherme Lindolfo, Maxime Niyibaho, and Lucas Ovalle each have scored two goals this season.
Just has important, WNCC had eight different players record an assist this season, led by Lemus with six followed by Abeal with five and Oliveira with four.
Goalkeeping is also a strong point for the Cougars as freshman Owen Henderson has 56 saves on the season while giving up 25 goals in his 12 starts this season.
As for LCCC, the Golden Eagles had nine players net a goal this season, led by sophomore Alvin Udoto with six followed by freshman Cooper Johnson with five. The Golden Eagles have 12 players that have added an assist, led by Johnson with four and sophomore Angel Avila-Sandoval with three.
It should be a great battle on the pitch come Saturday and the Cougar players are focused to achieve that goal of theirs to capture a regional title.
"I really think our team is made to win the regional title," Niyibaho said. "We've got what it take, and we intend to show it in our last two games. We have to concentrate and take it game by game. We're going to train hard so that every chance is on our side.
"Saturday's game is going to be a great spectacle. We're proud to be playing at the Landers Complex on a ground we know very well and where we haven't lost in over a year. See you all on Saturday."