ST. LOUIS, MO – The Northwest Mississippi Community College men's soccer team dropped a pair of matches over the weekend at the St. Louis Showcase falling to Allen County Community College (1-1) in a 5-2 final on Friday afternoon before narrowly being edged out by Kansas City Kansas Community College (3-0) on Sunday in a 1-0 decision at the Creve Coeur Soccer Complex.
"It was much needed," Head Coach Windham Whatley said of the strong competition they faced. "To play quality opponents before we get into conference is what we scheduled that trip for, and I think there was a lot of learning and a lot of growing over the last 72 hours, and even though we didn't get the results, I think it was a positive moving forward."
GAME 1 – NWCC 2, Allen County 5
Northwest took the opening lead in their battle with the Red Devils on one of the more impressive goals of the year for the Ranger men when freshman Joseph Jackson scored on a free kick from 30 yards out right in front of the goal in the 16th minute for his second score of the year.
The lead would hold until late in the first half when a pass through the defense on a counterattack would lead to a 1-on-1 between Tjay Gibb and Brendon Matemberere, which would be won by the attacker, evening the match at one going into the half.
Allen County added another goal early in the second half, when Bernard Agbavor made it 2-1 with a putback of a deflected shot in the 46th minute, and a third goal followed six minutes later in the 52nd minute after a steal led to a breakaway chance that pushed the lead to 3-1.
The Rangers recovered well, slowing the momentum and building into a few of their own chances, but Agbavor would strike again in the 65th minute to make ti 4-1.
Northwest did find an answer back when a free kick from Leo Frank was finished on a shot by Auden Sammons to cut the deficit to two in the 72nd minute, but that would be the final chance they would finish in the game.
One more goal was closed out with a shot in the 88th minute that closed the scoring to give ACCC the 5-2 win.
The Rangers finished the game with more shots than Allen County with a 16-13 edge, but only six of them were on frame compared to eight for the Red Devils.
GAME 2 – NWCC 0, KCKCC 1
In what was one of the most complete efforts for the Rangers this season, Northwest gave the Blue Devils of Kansas City Kansas all they could handle, only surrendering a 75th minute goal to Cole Elbert on a breakaway in what would be a heartbreaking loss.
Northwest once again outshot their opponent 14-12, and despite eight saves by Gibb in the match, they wouldn't be able to earn at least a draw in their final action in St. Louis.
The losses drop the Rangers to 1-2-1 on the season, but Whatley said the ability of the team to prepare for a new opponent with a new strategy with little prep time was something that shows growth.
"I think we changed some things from game one to game two, and they were able to receive that information and apply it. We are still showing we are a little young, but we are getting better day to day, and that's all you can ask for."
Northwest will now return home for a contest on Tuesday afternoon with the Blue Mountain Christian University JV squad, with kickoff slated for 4:00 PM. After the contest with the Toppers, the Rangers will have a week off before getting set for a trip to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to face East Central College.
The week in between games is something the team is in need of though, after what will be a stretch of five games in twelve days, and eight games since August 8th.
"We are banged up playing high-quality games in such a short time," Whatley said. "It does a lot to the guys that are playing a lot of minutes. It's not even about the coaching but more about the resting after Tuesday, and we will take some time off the field because we have really been going non-stop for a month now."
Tuesday's match with BMCU will be streamed on nwccrangers.com/watch, with the pregame show scheduled for 3:55 PM. You can keep up with Northwest action by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along with Ranger social media accounts.
