The Western Nebraska Community College and Dodge City Community College men’s soccer match on Sunday was destined for overtime. But freshman Eloy Matos changed all that with a minute remaining to give the Cougar men a thrilling 1-0 win over the now 7-3 Conquistadors.
Matos’ heroics was the icing on the cake of a perfect day for WNCC. Bre Perkes tied the school record for goals in a season as she continued her climb in the NJCAA national scoring ladders chart with four goals Sunday to pace the Cougar women to a dominating 5-1 win.
WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said Perkes’ effort keeps her among the nation’s best goal scorers.
“Bre came out and played a consistent game like she always does,” he said. “She put the ball in the back of the net four times and you can’t ask much more than from a player. We are very pleased with her effort.”
Perkes, who tied Kylee Hanavan’s 22-goals in a season from the inaugural 2003 season, now sits at No. 6 in the NJCAA national statistics. But it took 40 minutes before Perkes netted her first goal and first goal of the match when she took a pass from Paige Achatz for a 1-0 halftime lead.
The Plain City, Utah, native then added three more goals in the second half within 30 minutes of play to push the lead to 4-1. Perkes’ 22nd goal and season-record tying goal came at the 29-minute mark.
WNCC’s other goal came with late in the match as Kiwi Wingert took a shot, which rebounded off of Dodge City goal keeper right to the foot of Achatz, who hammered the ball into the net for the clincher.
Rasnic said the women’s team is becoming a championship ball club.
“They are playing more and more organized every time they come out on the field,” he said. “Honestly, their level of play is getting higher and that is what I have been looking for this season. We are just going to continue encourage them that we can continue to win games.”
The men also played inspired ball as both goal keepers, Dodge City’s Sean Pederson and WNCC’s Adam Rivera, brought their A game to the field. Pederson stopped 12 of 13 shots on goal, while Rivera had seven of six shots on goal.
Dodge City had a great goalkeeper and Adam came up big on that last corner kick and made a great save to take that tying goal away,” Rasnic said. “But I can’t say enough about the men’s team today. They showed me commitment, desire and composure on the field and I am very pleased how they played.”
Rasnic said the men now have an opportunity to obtain some team goals.
“It was unbelievable today. Our guys came out and played with a since of unity that I have been trying to get them to play with all season and we put it together today,” he said. “This win puts our record (5-7) back into an attainable goal to make us an even team this year and also puts us in a good spot for the Region IX playoff.”
Both teams had scoring opportunities all match long. It wasn’t until the 44th minute of the second half that sophomore Andrea Artunduaga booted the ball ahead of Matos just in front of the circle. Matos then ran down the ball, went one-on-one with goalkeeper Pederson and blasted the ball into the back of the net.
Dodge City had one last opportunity to tie game 45 seconds later, but Rivera proved golden in stopping the shot off the corner kick to seal the win.
“We are sitting in a good position for both teams for the regional playoffs,” Rasnic said. “If we can continue to do the things we are doing correctly, and as we continue to move on down the road, we are going to continue to get wins.”
Both teams are scheduled to face the University of Colorado in Boulder on Wednesday before returning home for their last home matches of the season on Saturday against Coffeyville Community College.
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