Plainsmen drop heartbreaker to Golden Eagles
Northeastern Men's Soccer (9-5-1, 6-1-0) dropped their first Region IX match of the season 2-1 to first place Laramie County Community College on Saturday, Oct. 5. The loss marked the Plainsmen's first since Sept. 8 and ended their 18 match regular-season home winning streak.
The Plainsmen were issued a early red card to sophomore captain Quentin Hornung in the 16th minute, which forced a change to their game plan. With the challenge of playing down a man for the next 74 minutes, Northeastern turned their focus to survival mode until the halftime whistle.
The Golden Eagles capitalized on a Plainsmen miscue with 29 seconds remaining in the first half to lead 1-0 at half time. Freshman goalkeeper Maarten Ritsema sustained a shoulder injury in the waning minutes of the first half and was replaced by fellow freshman Pelayo Quevedo after halftime.
Northeastern focused on not conceding another goal and the Plainsmen fought hard to stay alive. After 15 minutes, freshman Maurus Frey was tackled in the box to award a penalty kick to Northeastern. Sophomore RB Carlos Morales stepped up and buried his first collegiate goal into the top of the net to tie the match 1-1.
In the 70th minute, Northeastern fouled an LCCC player outside the box which gave them a direct free kick in a dangerous area. The opponents would take the lead 2-1 with 20 minutes remaining on a left-footed curved shot that bent around the wall and past goalkeeper Quevedo. Although Northeastern outshot their opponents 15 to 14 and had a total of 8 corner kicks, it would not be their day. Next up the Plainsmen travel to Wyoming on Friday for Region IX matches against Northwest College (6-6-1, 2-5-0) on Saturday and Central Wyoming (1-11-0, 0-7-0) on Sunday.