Men’s soccer rolls past Region IX newcomers

Sunday’s home finale by the Nothwest College men’s soccer team was delayed by nearly 20 minutes after visiting Northeastern College was slow to arrive at Trapper Field. In retrospect, they may have wished they’d taken longer.

Sophomore Adrian Elicerio scored a hat trick before the match was 15 minutes old to help spur the Trappers to a lopsided 11-0 rout of Northeastern, which is in its first season of junior college soccer and dressed just 12 players for the contest.

After the early outburst, the Northeastern defense appeared to settle in. While much of the remainder of the first half was still played in the Trappers’ attacking zone, Northwest was only able to add one more goal before the intermission, tapping a shot past the near post from point-blank range before the keeper could slide over to make a play.

In the second half, things got out of control. After needing almost 15 minutes to add to their lead, Northwest found the floodgates opening against a tiring Northeastern side. The Trappers added seven second-half goals to the scoreboard, including a pair from 30 yards out, as Northwest’s bench depth enabled the team to race past a tired Northeastern back line that had been under relentless pressure for much of the day.

“This was a big win for us,” noted Trapper head coach Rob Hill, noting that Northeastern had played defending Region IX champion and nationally-ranked Otero to a 2-1 final score earlier in the year. “If we win out this weekend on the road at Otero and against these guys, we can still get a first-round bye in the region tournament.”

The Trappers will be at Otero on Friday before completing the regular season on Saturday at Northeastern. Wins in both games would leave the team with the No. 2 seed in the Region IX tournament and a first-round bye.

A loss or a draw in either contest by NWC will relegate the Trappers to third place and a likely rematch against Northeastern at Trapper Field in the opening round of Region IX postseason play.

The semifinal and championship rounds will be hosted by Western Wyoming. The winner of the Region IX tournament advances to take on the winner of the Region I (Arizona) tournament with a spot in the national tournament going to the winner.

With Sunday’s victory over Northeastern, the Trappers improve to 11-3-1 overall this season. The team is 5-2-1 in Region IX action. The Trappers have won each of their last two games by shutout.