RIVERTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team took care of business and with their 3-2 win over Central Wyoming College Saturday afternoon in Riverton, Wyoming, the Cougars claimed the conference championship outright.
With the win, the Cougars earned the No. 1 seed in the Region IX playoffs that begin next week with first-round matches. WNCC and Casper College, the No. 1 and 2 seeds earned first-round byes and will host the semifinals on October 26. The finals are slated for November 2 and WNCC could host as well.
The win moves the Cougars to 8-4-2 on the season and 7-1-1 in conference play. Casper is second in the conference with a 6-2-1 record. The next four teams in the conference will play in the first round as Northwest and Otero will host either Laramie County Community College or Central Wyoming College.
Saturday's regular-season final was a battle to the final minute. The two teams settled for a 1-1 tie at halftime. WNCC scored first as Isrrael Rodriquez fed Eduardo Oliveira with a pass and the Cougar's leading goal scorer stuck it into the back of the net in the 15th minute.
Five minutes later, Central Wyoming's Tanner Johnson hit a penalty kick to knot things up.
Five minutes into the second half, Yediel Hernandez scored an unassisted goal to put the Cougars up 2-1. It didn't last long as Central Wyoming tied it at 2-2 on a Samir Siqueira goal.
WNCC got the winning goal in the 76th minute when Oliveira picked up an assist after giving Lucas Ovalle a nice ball and the sophomore nailed the ball in the back of the net.
Both teams had nine shots in the contest.
WNCC's Owen Henderson had four saves in net.