Northwest men pick up road win at LCCC
Sep. 10—CHEYENNE — Northwest College got Laramie County Community College back on its heels early and — save for a brief stretch during the first half — kept it there during a 2-1 victory Saturday afternoon.
The Trappers outshot LCCC 18-11 overall and held an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal.
"We couldn't find a rhythm," Golden Eagles coach Fernando Perez said. "We started off a little strong and then got complacent and played at a level we should have played at. We didn't play to our level for 90 minutes.
"Our effort wasn't there. We were winning the first or second ball enough. We had moments, but not enough."
Northwest took a 1-0 lead on a Ricardo Farias da Silva penalty kick in the eighth minute. He drew that penalty kick when he was fouled near the end line in the penalty area by LCCC freshman defender Brandon Young. Farias da Silva hit a low left-footed shot to his right that eluded Eagles goalkeeper Adan Herrera, who dove to his left.
The Trappers nearly went up two goals when Erick Braga rang a shot off the top of the left upright in the 20th minute.
LCCC counterattacked and knotted the score 1-1 when Arjuna Duran scored off an assist from Owen Sanchez in the 21st. Duran took a pass from Sanchez in traffic and waited for a window before hitting a righty shot low to the left side.
"We train running to space a lot, and that's what I did," Duran said.
The Eagles got six of their eight shots in the first half. Most of them came before and after Duran's goal.
"We weren't trusting ourselves, and we were playing a little scared," Duran said. "We needed to play with more confidence. I was surprised we didn't play that way.
"When we were getting chances, we weren't playing timid. We weren't playing like we were afraid of messing up. We just have to keep going forward because that's when the chances came."
Alan de Paula scored the game winner when he found the ball right in front of LCCC's goal in the 34th.
Although Northwest outshot LCCC, it didn't have many genuinely dangerous scoring chances aside from the two goals and two shots that hit the frame. Perez left the field pleased with his defense's performance.
"Our back four deserves a lot of credit," the coach said. "I didn't do a lot of subbing back there because I trust them. They didn't give up many dangerous shots, but the ones they did give up found the back of the net."
NORTHWEST 2, LCCC 1
Halftime: 2-1.
Goals: NWC, Farias da Silva (penalty kick), 8. LCCC, Duran (Sanchez), 21. NWC, DePaula, 34.
Shots: NWC 18, LCCC 11. Shots on goal: NWC 8, LCCC 5. Saves: NWC 4 (Chavarra Bezunartea); LCCC 7 (Herrera).
Corner kicks: NWC 4, LCCC 5. Offsides: NWC 3, LCCC 1. Fouls: NWC 11, LCCC 16. Yellow cards: NWC 1 (Gargollo, 72); LCCC 1 (Cisse, 73).
Let the news come to you
Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.
Explore newsletters
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.
