SENATOBIA – On a soggy Friday night at the Ranger Soccer Field, the Northwest Mississippi Community College men's soccer team (2-3-2) pulled off their most impressive result of the non-conference schedule, rallying back from a 2-0 deficit after waiting out a nearly four-hour lightning delay to earn a draw with National Park College (2-2-1), netting a pair of goals within 21 seconds of each other to shock the Nighthawks.
"Some would say it's worth the wait," Head Coach Windham Whatley said. "After a four-hour delay, to get the boys back up fighting, we've had a joke that we've been waiting to play under the lights, and that delay got us under the lights. It says something about this team."
The opening half didn't paint a pretty picture by the numbers. The Rangers surrendered a pair of goals, first on a rebound after a TJay Gibb save in the 28th minute, and again in the 37th when a breakaway led to a shot that slipped past the charging Northwest goalie to put the Nighthawks up 2-0 at the break.
Right at the start of the second half, the storyline would find its biggest twist, as a lightning delay turned into a waiting game for both sides, extending from 5:10 pm until just before 9 pm, just finishing inside the agreed-upon time the coaches had agreed to suspend the game.
That proved to be huge for Northwest, who not only survived the delay and then an assault from the Nighthawks in the opening 15 minutes as they looked to seal the win, but turned into a brilliant pair of goals to even the match in the 66th minute.
First, a clean pass up the right sideline to Vaughn Stackhouse saw the sophomore connect with his fellow returner in Wesley Kilpatrick, crossing the ball to the far post for a wide open look on goal that closed the gap to 2-1.
"Coach had said if we score one, we are sure to get two, so I was just trying to get in the box, and Vaughn put in a good cross and I just tapped it in," Kilpatrick said.
"Wesley has been an attacking player almost his whole life, and for the last eight months we've transitioned him into an outside back role, finding himself on the front line at times; for him to get that goal and gain that confidence is massive," Whatley said.
Only 21 seconds later, a giveaway by National Park in their own half led to freshman Jairo Mendez chipping a ball over the extended defense of NPC's goalie, stunning the visitors and drawing the two sides even.
"For Jairo, he's just a guy that never complains, always works, just doesn't necessarily get his stats," Whatley said. "For him to get a massive production like that and earn us a point, it's worth it for him and well deserved."
Northwest seemed to control the tempo of the game for much of the remainder, despite the physicality of the game increasing, with a combined five yellow cards and one red card being handed out in the final 25 minutes, including a booking of Bolu Owoyemi that forced the Rangers to play a man down for the final 12 minutes of the match.
It all paid off in the end for Northwest, who played connected as a team down the stretch and kept National Park from finding any clean looks on the way to sealing the draw.
Whatley said it is something that he has seen building over the last few days.
"We felt energy shift yesterday; just watching film back and talking through everything, I think it's starting to click as to what is needed as individuals and putting it together as a team. To see that we are so close and can earn points against quality teams is massive, because we are in a quality league. As long as we can continue to show up with that effort and that energy, I have high expectations for this team."
"This whole team's mentality has just changed from last year. I'm just glad to see it. This is the best momentum we could have, and we just need to keep it consistent going into our first conference game," Kilpatrick added.
The Rangers were outshot in the match 15-4 and saw the visitors take 12 corner kicks but didn't surrender any shots on any corners. The defense was aided in the match by Gibb's eight saves, including four in the second half.
Northwest will have a short turnaround after the match, with a return to their home pitch on Tuesday evening when they host #20 Copiah-Lincoln Community College (4-0-1) at home at 7 pm.
The match will be streamed on Ranger TV following the women's game which kicks off at 5 pm. Keep up with both Ranger soccer programs at nwccrangers.com or by following along on Northwest social media accounts.
