Otero Eliminate Mustangs in First Round

In the first round of the Region IX playoffs held in La Junta CO, the Rattlers from Otero Junior College squared off against the Mustangs from Western Wyoming.  Both teams were semi-finalist in the Region IX 2012 playoffs.  With Otero losing to Northwest College in shootout in the 2012 tournament and Western beating LCCC in shootout before eventually becoming the 2012 Region IX Champions.
The squads split their regular season matches with Western winning in Rock Springs and Otero winning in La Junta. Otero was the hottest team in the Region and the Mustangs limped into the finish line with injury and depth issues.

Photo Courtesy of Jen Atkinson

The match was a high intensity match from the get go, but the Mustangs worst case scenario happened when the Rattlers scored in the 3rd minute to take an early lead.  The Mustangs battled hard and fought their way back into the match.  In the 23rd minute off of a corner kick sent into the box from Rico Mendez, Kyle Seljaas headed it into the goal to tie the match.  However, as happened all match long Otero always was able to find creases in the Mustang defense and scored in the 30th minute to again take a lead.  The lead stuck and it was 2 - 1 at the half in favor of the home standing Rattlers.
The Mustangs game plan was working beside the early goal conceded by Western.  Only down by one goal at half was a moral victory for the undermanned Mustangs.  Things looked good at the start of the second half until a quick counter gave OJC a 1 v 1 situation with the Mustang keeper Taylor West and they scored their third goal in the 47th minute of the match.  Again Western was playing well but struggled to find chance.  Again a penalty was called against the Mustangs in the 60th minute.  Taylor West made the initial save on the kick, unfortunately the rebound landed at the feet of the OJC player and he slipped it past West and gave the Rattlers a 4 to 1 lead with only an half hour remaining in the match.  The Mustangs inched closer in the 75th minute when they earned a penalty kick.  Nate Pierce calmly buried the kick in the bottom corner to pull the Mustangs to within two goals at 4 - 2.  Just as the Mustangs again seized the momentum of the match the Rattler answered with another goal.  The final goal of the match was in the 78th minute after Taylor West was bumped in a midair collision and lost the ball, the offense for OJC was able to put the loose ball away.  The final score was 5 for the Rattler and 2 for the Mustangs.  As a side note OJC was able to win the 2013 Region IX tournament two days later.  They only allowed 3 goals in the tournament and Western scored two on them in one match.  This was the last time that sophomores; DJ Searcy, Zach Plitt, Adrian Sanchez, Vitor Nazareth, Bernard Manuel, Kyle Seljaas, Taylor West, Nate Pierce and Phil Angerhofer officially represented the Red, White and Black of the Mustangs.

Match Facts; Shots – WWCC 11, OJC 23; Assists – WWCC 1, OJC 3; Saves – WWCC 11, OJC 2; Free Kicks – WWCC 10, OJC 8; Corner Kicks – WWCC 5, OJC 3; Cards – WWCC 0, OJC 0

Mustang Man of the Match – Kyle Seljaas - Kyle scored the first goal for the Mustangs and was relentless in his pursuit of victory.

 
Up Next for the Mustangs – End of the 2013 Season