WICHITA, KS – After an assault on the goal in the first half on a windy day at the NJCAA National Championship Soccer tournament the Laramie County Community College women's soccer team held on in the rain and wind to upset the eighth seeded Tyler Junior College Apaches 3-2 in their opening game of pool play.
"We knew it was going to be a hard game, but we came here to compete. We earned a spot at nationals and the whole team knew that, and throughout the game we kept high intensity, good energy and good vibes going on," Celeste Jimenez-Montero said after the match.
The scoring opened with a goal from the Apaches in the ninth minute when Gabrielle Thompson followed a ball into the box and was able to just slip it past Rebecca Sargent in the confusion to put Tyler in front early.
LCCC responded in the 21st minute when Jimenez-Montero showed the strength of her leg off on a 40-yard free kick. The ball skipped on the wet turf and made it past Saki Tsuchiya to even the scoring.
Jimenez-Montero wasn't done either. Just ten minutes later a kick from the left side and about 30-yards out, the Costa Rican defender added a second tally to the LCCC scoring with a ball that was untouched through the box and into the goal.
"All the glory to Jesus. He is the one who blessed me with those goals and I'm so happy to contribute to the team," Jimenez-Montero said. "I was really shocked when the goals went in. The first one, coach told me just to put it on frame and I did so it was just trusting coach and trusting yourself."
The Golden Eagles were playing with a 30 to 40-mile per hour win at their backs and that helped to keep the ball on the attacking half of the field much of the half and they capitalized again with just two minutes left when Hailey Grillas lofted one into the wind from the right corner of the 18-yard box. It carried over the goalies' leap and put the finishing touches on a half that took LCCC into the break up by a pair of goals.
"I don't go in on set pieces, so I was just sitting out watching it," Grillas said. "It just popped right out, and I got a foot on it and was lucky enough to not nail it over."
All three goals for the Golden Eagles were unassisted and Head Coach Lugo Arenas said that has been a key for them since the beginning of the season.
"For us to just be able to put that stuff together and for Celeste to understand that with the wind at her back and the way she strikes the ball, I love that the girls embraced it and it didn't shake them up one bit."
Arenas said he knew going into the second half the team would have to be ready for an assault from Tyler and for the wind to be a continued factor.
"We knew going against the wind in the second half we would have to change our tactics up," Arenas said. The girls locked in and that's what I told them. It took everyone's energy to push us to the end and hold on to that 3-2 lead."
The Apaches took advantage of the win again and kept the ball in the attacking half for most of the 45, and after 15 minutes they struck again when Rebekah Nolen was able to score and close the gap to just 3-2.
Despite taking 14 shots in the second half alone to none for the Golden Ealges, the Apaches could never break through the wall of defenders, and most shots were taken from outside of the 18-yard box, and only 8 of the 18 shots were on goal.
Sargent did make a critical save late in the second half on a free kick that would have just made it inside the right post and would have leveled the game. That was one of her six saves on the day, five of which were in the second half.
The win means that Tuesday's 10:00 AM CST match against Iowa Western Community College will determine which team advances to the NJCAA National Semifinals on Thursday.
"For them being the reigning national champs, number one seed, in my mind, I guarantee they are going 'oh, shoot, now we have to be aware of them,'. This group keeps proving people wrong day by day and I love it. It gives me joy being able to coach a group like this that believes in one another.
It would be the first appearance in the semifinals for the Golden Eagles since the 2016 season when LCCC fell to Tyler Junior College 2-1 in Melbourne, Florida. It also marks the third straight season the Golden Eagles have faced Iowa Western in pool play at the national tournament.
The game will be streamed live on the NJCAA network. Streaming information is available at www.golccc.com.