Friday, August 29, 2014

NJC Does Enough to Beat the Mustangs

Photos Courtesy of Jen Atkinson
On Friday in Rock Springs WY the Western Wyoming Mustangs kicked off their 2014 home schedule.  The Mustangs played a Region IX rival in Northeastern Junior College Plainsmen from Sterling CO.  Even though the teams are Region IX rivals the teams are in different divisions in Region IX so it was not a Region IX match that counts for seeding at the Region tournament.
The Plainsmen came into the match and seemed to control a lot of the first minutes of the match but could not do much offensively with the ball.  Just when the match seemed to turn in favor of the Mustangs the Plainsmen hit a free kick from 30 yards out in the 14th minute.  The Mustangs did their best to re-group and get the goal back before half time.  Shots were taken by Riley Gibson, Taylor Flitton and Brock Mosier.  The halftime score stood at 1 - 0 in favor of the NJC Plainsmen.
In the second half the dominance in possession was clearly in favor of the Mustangs as the ball rarely cleared the Plainsmen defensive third.  However the Mustangs struggled to find that last touch the get the ball into the back of the net.  Close chances were taken and created by Taylor Flitton, Chandler Young, Gunner Burrell, Carsen Tinker, Levi Tams, Jesse Cardenas and Riley Gibson.  Shots in the second half were 11 for WWCC and 2 for NJC.  None of the Mustangs shots found the net and the final score was 1 - 0 still in favor of the visiting NJC Plainsmen.  The loss takes the Mustang records to 1 - 2 - 0 on the 2014 season.

Mustang Man of the Match; Carsen Tinker - Carsen had 3 shots and continually created opportunities for the Mustangs in the offensive third of the field.

Match Facts; Shots - WWCC 19 - NJC 5; Assists - WWCC 0 - NJC 0; Saves - WWCC 1 - NJC 2; Corner Kicks - WWCC 10 - NJC 2; Free Kicks - WWCC 12 - NJC 15; Cards - WWCC 1 - NJC 1

Up Next for the Mustangs - Saturday August 30th versus Westminster JV at Rock Springs WY at Rock Springs Junior High (3500 Foothill Blvd) at 5:00pm.