(TRINIDAD, CO) – TSJC moved to Central Park for a Region IX playoff contest with Western Nebraska late Saturday evening and came away with an impressive 5-0 victory. The Trojans will now advance to the semifinals in Denver this weekend.
The teams were pretty even for the first thirty minutes of the contest until Filip Cvetinovic tracked down a brilliant pass from Khori Edmond and slid it past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. Minutes later Cvetinovic picked up his second goal of the night, taking a volley from Filip Milivojevic and smashing it into the net. The 2-0 lead would hold until halftime. Early in the second the Trojans would get goal number three, this time it was on a corner from Edmond to Jermey Elmore-Klepac, who streaked across the box and headed the ball into the net. TSJC added two late goals; both off the right-foot of freshman Alejandro Garcia, to make it a 5-0 win. NJCAA goalkeeper of the week Brayan Rangel had to stop five shots, with his two biggest saves coming in the final seconds, to record the Trojans third straight shutout.
"The guys played great to get us past this quarterfinal match," praised fifth year Head Coach Aaron Miller. "We had some good attacking opportunities and put away our shots with some really lovely goals. Everyone contributed to the win against WNCC and the environment Saturday night at Central was fantastic. Our overall energy was remarkable. Now it is on to Denver to face a direct, athletic Western Wyoming squad. Our primary goal each season is to win the Region IX title, but our focus in training this week will be to beat WWCC. I believe in this year's group, both our collective and individual talent has grown through the season, as well as our team spirit. I am really looking forward to our Men's and Women's teams representing TSJC in Denver this weekend."
The Trojans (14-3) are ranked 17th in the latest NJCAA polls and 10th in this week's NSCAA poll. They will travel to Denver this Saturday to play a semifinal game against Western Wyoming CC. TSJC defeated the Mustangs twice this year, and will now have to rise up to the difficult task of beating a team three times in one season. The winner will face the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between Otero and Laramie County on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is schedule for 6:30 p.m. at Metro State's Regency Athletic Complex.