It wasn’t easy.

After a 1-1 draw at full time and extra time, penalties ended up being the decider in the Region IX Championship game on Saturday in Powell. The Northwest College men’s soccer team claimed its first national tournament berth since 2012 after winning the penalty shootout 4-2 over the visiting Western Nebraska Cougars.

The Trappers nearly had the perfect start just six minutes into the contest, when Josh Rabord stole the ball from a poor back pass to the visiting keeper.

He rounded the keeper, and was dragged down from behind, earning a penalty for the hosts.

After a delay and further discussion, the Cougar’s keeper was sent off for the denial of a goal scoring opportunity, dropping the visitors down to 10 men and subbing in a backup keeper.

“I think it changed the whole aspect of the game because I think it’d be a whole different game if it was 11-v.-11,” freshman Louie Daley said.

William Danaire stepped up; his effort was saved by the new keeper diving to his right, keeping the match tied 0-0.

The dream start turned sour just minutes later, when a misplayed ball at the back led to a foul by the Trappers in their own penalty area, and the Cougars fired home from the spot to make it 1-0 nine minutes in.

Playing against 10 men the Trappers created chances over the next 15 minutes, before things got worse for the visitors.

A second yellow in five minutes was shown to one of the Cougar players, resulting in another red card to put them down to nine men the final 70 minutes of regular time.

“For us I just said don’t get distracted,” coach Rob Hill said. “It arguably made it harder for us because at that point they just sat in and they said we’re going to defend with everything at all costs. It almost worked for them in the sense that we didn’t convert.”

Trying to break down the opposition defense led to few chances the rest of the first half for the Trappers, and a free kick outside the box was blocked and Western Nebraska went into the half up 1-0.

Northwest didn’t have to wait long into the second half to get the equalizer, as Daley found a bit of daylight from his right back position in the box, and fired home a shot to the far post to tie the match 10 minutes in.

“It was like a weight was lifted off the team’s shoulders … We just found it so hard to score,” Daley said. “After the goal I didn’t really celebrate. I don’t know what happened … I didn’t really celebrate because I think it was what was expected of us.”

The Trappers continued to pepper the opposition net, as Northwest nearly took the lead five minutes later, but a clearance off the line kept the match tied at one.

Hayden Vally had two chances five minutes apart midway through the half, and Sora Taenaka had a header just wide with 16 minutes left.

Another chance went just over the net with a minute left, and the teams went to extra time tied 1-1.

“The pitch made it difficult to move the ball fast because it was bobbling and bouncing,” Hill said.

Northwest’s best chance was again cleared off the line by the visitors, and Western Nebraska had one chance three minutes into the second extra time frame but shot wide as the teams remained deadlocked after 110 minutes.

“They put their bodies on the line. I think they (Western Nebraska) did very well and made it very hard for us,” Daley said.

In the penalty shootout the Trappers went first, as Tristan Hargreaves stepped up and fired it in the bottom left corner.

Western Nebraska answered and the two were tied 1-1.

Vally stepped up second for Northwest, and had his saved, with the keeper diving to the right.

Needing a stop of their own, Trapper keeper Oakley Parnum dove to his left and saved the next Cougar chance to keep it tied at 1-1.

“You’ve just got to kind of talk to yourself, and keep yourself mentally checked into the game. It’s quite weird going from nothing to penalties, it’s a bit of a heart jumper and what you play the game for,” Parnum said. “The best part is moments like that.”

Taylor Bridger was next up for Northwest, and fooled the keeper with a panenka up the middle to give the Trappers the lead.

Parnum gave Northwest the full advantage, by diving to his right and saving the next opportunity to keep it 2-1 after three rounds.

“I don’t really take any credit for that. I’ll give all the credit to [redshirt sophomore] Joe [Hughes],” Parnum said. “Joe’s the one, I just got told where to dive and luckily I saved it. I would say Joe won that shootout for us … Penalties are a 50/50 luck thing really. You either save it or you don’t.”

Rabord was next up, and he fired it just out of reach of the keeper’s hand to give Northwest a 3-1 lead.

“I don’t watch our penalties. I watch theirs. I just have a superstition about it,” Hill said.

Western Nebraska scored to keep it alive at 3-2.

Redemption came for Danaire in the final round, as he shot to the keeper’s right and caught him flat-footed, with the ball hitting the back of the net and sending the Trappers to nationals.

“It’s unreal,” Hill said. “We’re a team of mainly freshmen, all new players playing. To go from last year’s team that almost went to nationals, to change the team completely and go again. I think it’s really a result of us recruiting the right people and getting them with the right mindset and professionalism.”

NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

With the victory the Trappers head to the national tournament in Wichita, Kansas, as the tournament is set to begin on Sunday.

Northwest’s opponents are set to be released today (Tuesday) at 4:30 p.m. as pool play games take place Nov. 15-17. The semifinals will be on Nov. 19 and the championship will be on Nov. 21.

“Going to nationals, we’re excited about any opposition we face. I don’t really care about the seeding, the guys don’t care about seeding. We want to play against the best, and we feel like we can compete against the best and that’s what we’ve aimed for all along,” Hill said.