SENATOBIA – The Northwest Mississippi Community College men's soccer team (2-2-1) was in dominant fashion on Tuesday afternoon at the Ranger Soccer Field, cruising to the biggest win in program history by dispatching the Blue Mountain Christian University JV team 11-1.
"We finished chances, and that's one thing we talked about," Head Coach Windham Whatley said. "Those two losses that we dropped were just missing chances, and I think today almost every chance we got in front of goal we put away. That's positive to see."
Northwest got on the board early thanks to a fourth-minute goal by Joseph Jackson after a pass across the box from Osvaldo Macias found him from 16 yards out, and the freshman added to his early tally with a second goal less than three minutes later to put the Rangers ahead 2-0 after Bolu Owoyemi served one in for the strike.
Blue Mountain got on the board for the first time in the 20th minute to close the gap to 2-1, and it seemed like a closer match was going to develop, but Northwest regained their edge in the final 15 minutes of the first half when Owoyemi picked up his first goal of the math after a feed from Auden Sammons in the 34th minute, and Nile Hunt cleaned up a rebound in the 41st minute to send the game to the half at 4-1.
The Rangers got right back into the scoring in the 51st minute when Owoyemi earned his second goal of the match on an assist from Jackson, starting what would turn into an avalanche of goals from the Northwest offense.
In the 57th minute, Giovani Salinas added his first goal of the season to the onslaught to make it 6-1 on a pass from Tristan Davis, and Davis followed with his first career collegiate goal in the 58th minute on a pass from Jairo Mendez.
Hunt returned to the forefront of the scoring with back-to-back goals in the 59th and 60th minutes on a pass from Luke Lowrimore for the first and a steal on the second, pushing the score to 9-1 and picking up the first collegiate hat trick of his career.
"It feels incredible," Hunt said. "We just did it as a team and I was in the right place at the right time. Every goal came from moving the ball like we should have."
"To see Nile get rewarded for his work is something we are all proud of," Whatley said. "He's a kid that has only improved every day since we checked in for preseason and will play any role that we need. Seeing him get rewarded for all of the silent work he's put in the last month is brilliant."
Two more hat tricks would follow when Jackson finished a pass from Wyatt Sharp in the 67th minute for his third goal of the match, and Owoyemi finished a fancy double pass into the box from Sharp and Aydan Vazquez to make it 11-1 in the 68th minute.
The Rangers stacked up ten assists in the match, showing their ability to find ways to move the ball into the box on the attack to create and finish chances.
"After games and watching film, coach has been drilling it into our heads to get it into the box because we hav e great strikers, we just have to give them a chance," Hunt said.
That capped off the win, and the Rangers celebrated what is the biggest margin of victory in program history and the most goals scored in a game in program history, all in the same match, shaking off a two-match losing streak in the process.
Northwest will get some well-deserved rest time, with a week separating them from their next match on September 8th, when they will travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for a match with East Central College (Mo.) Kickoff for that match is set for 4 P.M.
Follow along with Ranger men's soccer by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along on Northwest social media accounts.
