The North Idaho College men’s soccer team beat the Community Colleges of Spokane 3-1 Saturday afternoon at NIC.
Ruben Amezcua scored NIC’s first goal in the 36th minute of the first half with a long midfield shot to put the Cardinals ahead of the Sasquatch.
Logan Tooley later scored NIC’s second goal in the seventh minute of the first half with an assist from Ryan Kremples as he split the defense and set Tooley up for the shot.
Alex Renz of Spokane would later answer with an assist from Jacob Fitterer to make the score 2-1 in the 9th minute of the second half .
Tooley scored his second goal in the final minutes of the game to seal NIC’s victory.
NIC (3-4-1) defeated Edmonds Community College of Lynnwood, Wash. 2-0 at home last Tuesday.
Louis Williams bended a goal into the net in the 42nd minute of the first half and John Ray scored in the second half to secure the Cardinal victory.
“As the season’s worn on, (Ray’s) adjusted to the speed of play and I think the deeper we get into the season the more dangerous he’s going to be in terms of creating opportunities, opportunities for not only himself but for others as well,” head coach Ken Thompson said.
Previously, the Cardinals tied Salt Lake Community College 1-1 in Powell, Wyo., Sept. 8.
The Cardinals went into halftime with a 1-0 lead after Christian Mbasi-Botuli converted on a penalty kick in the 20th minute. But the Bruins responded in the second half off a header from Ryan White in the 78th minute.
Northwest College defeated NIC 4-2 the previous day in Powell despite a 2-1 halftime lead favoring the Cardinals.
Williams and Jimmy Chambers scored a goal apiece in the first half for NIC but the Trappers scored three unanswered goals in the second half to seal the game.
NIC had a tough home match Sunday, Sept. 2 against the visiting Peninsula Pirates from Port Angeles, Wash., losing 3 – 1 in the final ten minutes.
After a scoreless first half in which Cardinal goalie Justin Johnson had multiple goal saves, the action really picked up.
Within the first five minutes of the second half, the Pirates got on the board with a goal scored by Erick Urzua.
After a couple saves by Peninsula goalie Angel Guerra, which prevented the Cardinals from delivering an immediate response, Tooley broke through the Pirates defense.
With twelve minutes left in the game, Tooley drew a penalty kick, converting it to a game-tying goal. The Cardinals’ success was short lived however.
With 9:30 left, Alex Martinez scored a tie-breaking goal, and soon after delivered the final blow, scoring again with three minutes left in the game.
The two-point deficit proved too much for the Cardinals to overcome.
Thompson said the positives that came out of the loss were “a combination of quality chances, quality possessions and patience with every possession.”
Even after a tough loss, Thompson has much optimism about his team and the season ahead.
“We feel like everything is coming together and we are headed in the right direction,” Thompson said.
In NIC’s previous game Friday, Aug. 31, freshman Robert Wilson scored in the 21st minute assisted by Tooley as the team earned its first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Northwest College of Powell, Wyo., at the Cardinal Classic.
Johnson made eight saves for the Cardinals, who were playing without starters Eliseo Santana and Mbasi-Botuli. Santana nursed an injured quad and Mbasi-Botuli served a one-game suspension handed down after receiving a red card in an Aug. 24 game against Weber State’s club team.
“Today everyone played tough all the way through and even though we were missing some starters we played well,” Thompson said. “Hopefully from now on we’ll be coming out more intense but a little more relaxed with the ball so we can connect more passes.”
NIC plays Peninsula College Saturday in Port Angeles.
