Last second heroics keep Reivers undefeated in Cheyenne
The 2017 opening campaign for Reiver Soccer looked bleak when NJCAA No. 20 Ranked Salt Lake Community College midfielder Alex Jaimez scored in the 52nd minute. The goal originated from an excellent Bruins counter-attack and a cheeky dummy of the ball that found Jaimez alone in front of the goal. His first attempt was blocked by goalkeeper Yuichiro Hayami but the rebound deflected into Jaimez and was quickly finished away.
CHEYENNE, WY - Third ranked Iowa Western managed a 1-1 tie with the Bruins on Saturday in Cheyenne. The reivers responded well to the goal and pushed for an equalizer as sophomore forward Kwesi Allen created a penalty kick in the first half. Newcomer Matthew Woo Ling stepped up to take the spot kick and was denied by the bruins goalkeeper.
The Bruins were well on their way to upsetting the NJCAA's No.3 ranked Reivers. However, with less than two minutes of regulation, SLCC's goalkeeper poorly cleared a free kick into Kwesi Allen and with two touches he finished the ball in the back of the net, tying up the game.
The Reivers dominated the two overtime periods but the score remained the same, tied 1-1.
The biggest headline going into the match was that of former Reiver and current Salt Lake CC head coach Mark Davis. This marked the first time that Mark Davis and Reiver head coach Jordan Carver had their teams play each other. In 2009, Carver recruited Davis to play for the Reivers. Davis would go on to captain the Reivers and lead them to a first-place finish in the ICCAC and second place finish in the Region XI tournament.
The second match-up of the weekend had the Reivers paired up with hosts Laramie County Community College. An early goal from Sabino Lozano put the Reivers up 1-0.
In the 34th minute, a free kick from Dadwin Hernandez was deflected by a Laramie defender into the goal. Reiver defender, Gustavo Fernandes, became entangled in a scuffle directly following the goal which led to Laramie County's midfielder Jonathan Cerda being sent off and Juan Covarrubia and Fernandes receiving yellow cards.
The Reivers would go on to win the game 6-1 over Laramie County as five different Reivers found the back of the net.
Up next for the Reivers is their conference opener versus Iowa Central Community College. The game will be played at the Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex, 1628 Nelson Ave, Fort Dodge, IA 50501. Kickoff is set for 2:00 pm CT on Saturday, September 9, 2017. The game will be streamed on the Reiver Sports Network.
The ICCAC has changed the conference game schedule and playoffs for the 2017 season. Each of the ten teams in the conference will play each other once with the top six teams making the playoffs. Seeds one and two will have a bye in the first-round while seed three will host seed six and seed four will host seed five. The new changes bring an immediate urgency to each conference game as well as limits the number of games played which encourages better planning for coaches and recovery for players.