Wichita, KS - Leave it to the weest of Cougars to roar the loudest, as freshman Owen Thomas netted the matches only goal to give Coastal Bend College - the 11th seed - a huge victory over the second seeded Bruins of Salt Lake Community College in the opening round of the 2021 NJCAA Division I National Soccer Championships.
SLCC was every bit worth of the #2 National Ranking and the Championship's second seed as they placed four shots on goal in the early half of the game. The Cougar goalkeeper Harry Scott and his defensive mates were up the challenge as they kept the Bruins off the board, throughout the first half. Lightening struck out of the clear blue sky at the 19:17 mark when a Bruin defensemen made a lazy pass back to his own goal keeper. Thomas, the speedster, broke from his position intercepted the ball with his left and then took two steps to punch it home with his right to give the Cougars the 1-0 lead.
The Cougar offense went on a tear to start the second stanza with Thomas Williams and Caio Oliveira each having shots on goal. Caio's was an absolute blast from about ten yards beyond the top of the box that struck the crossbar, then deflected off the goalie only to hit the post and kick off a Bruin defender out of bounds for a Cougar corner kick. But it would be the Cougar defense who would take center stage in the second stanza. Scott made a sliding save on a shot, that he was only able to get a toe upon. It was enough to send the ball just past the right post.
The big threat came at the 10:06 mark. Scott came out to stop a shot, the ball got by him, but not by a sliding Ross Murphy. The bad news, Murphy's deflection landed in Scott's hands for a hand ball. The Bruins lined up for the indirect kick inside the box. They got off a powerful shot that was blocked by Ryan Lewis with the resulting ricochet going half down the field ending the threat. The Bruins would never get closer, and CBC charged the field as the horn sounded having earned the upset and their 10th win of the season.
As the lowest seed in the pool, the Cougars will have to make a quick turnaround and play 7th seeded, and 17th ranked Barton County Community College (KS) at 1:00 pm Sunday. a CBC vicoty will propel the Cougars into the championship round on Wednesday. A loss, and it will come down to Monday's match between Salt Lake and Barton County to determine their future.