Otero Men’s Soccer advances to the West District tournament Otero Men’s Soccer team reached the Region IX Final for the fourth time in five years. The Rattlers beat the Raiders of Central Nebraska Community College 4-2 on Friday, which advanced the Rattlers to the finals against Trinidad State Junior College. The Rattlers traveled to Powell, Wyo. for the Region IX Tournament. Otero came out strong in the first half, scoring three goals against the Central Nebraska Community College Raiders. The first goal came just 10 minutes into the game, when the Raiders struggled to clear the ball out of their box. Jose Castro was able to get a touch on the ball, scoring his 7th goal of the season. Just one minute later, the Rattlers continued to put pressure on the Raiders defense allowing a loose ball in front the Raiders goal. Mikhail Hastings finished the opportunity, scoring his first goal of the season. The Rattlers once again capitalized on the Raiders mistakes by scoring their third goal. Owayne Stone stole the ball from the Central defender, giving himself a break away. The second half was a scare for the Rattlers as the Raiders fought their way back into the game by scoring two goals. With a late goal from Erick Chappa in the 89th minute, the Rattlers advanced to the Region IX Final against #6 Trinidad State Junior College. The Rattlers, who hoped to overcome their two-loss record with Trinidad during the regular season, would fall once more 3-0. The first goal came off a free-kick in the 29th minute. The second goal was a cross into the box and Nate Shumer, goalkeeper for the Rattlers, misread the cross allowing the ball to sneak past him. The third goal would come late in the second half when a free ball was given in front of the Rattlers net. “I’m really happy that we were able to make it to the Region final again; however, it would have been nice to be back-to-back champions,” said Mike Bielski. “Trinidad is a really good team. This turned out to be a really good rivalry between our two programs.” Even with the loss in the Region IX finals, the Rattlers clinched a West District Tournament playoff spot. They will face the Region 1 Champions, #9 Pima Community College on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Trinidad State (#6) will face #15 Phoenix College at 5:00 p.m. The tournament will be held in Tucson, Ariz. The winner of each of these games will advance to the district final on Saturday night and will clinch a spot at the NJCAA National Tournament in Prescott, Ariz., which is scheduled for November 17-23.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 02:45:40 +0000
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