On Friday in Denver CO on the campus of Metro State University the WWCC Mustangs faced the Gillette College Pronghorns in the Region IX Semifinal matchup.Western had swept the season series between the two teams but knew this would be a tough matchup. Western got off to a more offensive start putting 7 shots on the GC goal in the first half while Gillette only could muster 1 shot towards the WWCC goal. Persistence and anticipation paid off for the Mustangs when Emma Barnes won a GC goal kick and passed the ball to Maylee Thompson. Maylee beat a defender and took a shot that found the back of the net from about 20 yards out. The halftime score would be WWCC 1 and GC 0.
In the second half the Mustangs had to rely on their defense as Gillette threw everything at them that they could. GC took 11 shots at Markell Freeman and the WWCC goal while the Mustangs only had 5 shots in the second half. The Mustang defense would hold true and kept the 90 minute shutout. There were some key defensive stops from the starting backline of Jaclyn Edwards, MaKayla Barnes, Kaitlyn Pryor, Abbie Riley and keeper Markell Freeman. The final four minutes of the match were more dicey then they needed to be as Jordan Gibson received 2 yellow cards and was disqualified from the match. The Mustangs had to keep the lead down a player. The final score at the end of 90 minutes was still WWCC 1 and Gillette 0. This is the 12th win on the season for the Mustangs tying their program record for wins in a season.Mustang Valuable Players: Maylee Thompson and Markell Freeman. Maylee for her goal in the 1st half and Markell for her saves in the second half.
Match Facts - Shots - WWCC 12, GC 12; Assists - WWCC 1,GC 0; Saves - WWCC 8, GC 8; Corner Kicks - WWCC 3, GC 1; Free Kicks - WWCC 6, GC 10; Cards - WWCC 4, GC 0
Up Next for the Mustangs: Finals - Region IX tournament - Saturday October 27th vs #1N - LCCC - Denver CO - Metro State University Campus
