(TRINIDAD, CO) – TSJC hosted Northwest College from Powell, Wyoming on Saturday afternoon at Los Niño's Park in the first round of the Region IX playoffs. The Lady Trojans fought their way to a well-earned 2-1 victory and netted a place in the semifinals this Saturday in Denver.
TSJC had good momentum early getting a couple of good looks at goal but failed to find the net. Rachel Fraser excited the crowd when she launched a shot from the top of the box and rocked the woodwork, but the ball ricocheted out and the game remained scoreless. A few minutes later Amber Pinon swiped the ball in the defensive midfield and launched it forward to Laeticia Rambeau who was making a great run straight through the defense. The Trappers took Rambeau down from behind in the box setting the Trojans up with a penalty kick. Rambeau powered the shot into the right corner of the net to put TSJC up 1-0. The lead held until the closing minutes of the half when Northwest's Meghan Attenborough stole the ball at midfield and fired a shot to the top corner of the net to knot things up heading into the break.
In the second half the Trojans started gaining momentum about twenty minutes in as they got more players forward. The pressure paid off when Sofia Rivero found a streaking Thais Dos Santos on the left side of the box. The Brazilian sophomore eluded the keeper and placed the ball into the net to give the Trojans back the lead. TSJC's defense tightened and the Trojans held on for the 2-1 win. Victoria Bonahoom had six saves in goal.
"It was a hard fought game by both teams," commented first year Head Coach Peter Freeman. "We knew coming into the match there would be a lot of pressure placed on the team both physically and mentally. The team did a great job rising to the occasion to get the victory and punch their ticket to the semifinals. Thank you to the students, families, friends and faculty that came out and supported us in the playoff game and during the season."
The Trojans will play in the semifinals for just the second time in club history when they will face Otero on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The games will take place at beautiful Regency Athletic Complex at Metro State University. Top seed Laramie County will host Western Wyoming in the other semifinal earlier in the day. A Trojan win will propel them into the Region IX title game on Sunday.