Plainswomen Fall To Top Ranked Cougars

Sept. 4, 2019, Sterling, Colo. — After a dominating performance on the road, the Northeastern Junior College (NJC) Plainswomen soccer team returned home to play against a Region IX opponent, the Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) Cougars. The Cougars have been known to play hard against NJC, so the Plainswomen needed to come out strong and not give WNCC any chances. 

Northeastern had momentum on their side, hoping they could use that to score early and play from ahead the rest of the match. Both teams played well, but the Cougars scored first in the 29th minute to take the 1-0 lead. The Plainswomen had their chance to score but missed a wide open goal, which they wished they had another chance at. Ten minutes later, a high bouncing ball found its way over Nohelia Pena's head to take WNCC up 2-0. At half, the game remained 2-0 with the Cougars leading. 

The Plainswomen came out after half with a slightly different look to help give them a better chance at getting a goal. That tactic came in handy as Emali Ortega scored on a free kick in the 49th minute to make the score 2-1. Throughout the rest of the half, the Plainswomen had a few chances to score from corner kicks, but were unsuccessful. Late in the game, NJC had a mental lapse and allowed WNCC to score the final goal of the match, resulting in a 3-1 loss for the Plainswomen. 

The Plainswomen will have a few days to regroup before traveling to play their first Region IX in La Junta, Colo. against the Otero Rattlers on Friday Sept. 13.