Seward County went on the road for the first time in the 2024 season and made some noise in the NJCAA as they took on the #3 team in the national rankings in the Cowley Tigers who managed to score first but could not keep the Saints down with Javier Ruchelli Alvarez sinking in a late goal to help SCCC earn a result against the Tigers.
The Saints opened up the contest with an aggressive mindset as they fought against Cowley for possession before making their way down the field for their first shot attempts of the night as Matheus Ambrozio took his opportunity to score but landed just outside of the crossbar. Ruchelli Alvarez and Leonardo Leitao added on to the SCCC shots but could not connect before the Tigers made their way down the field where they came face to face with the reigning NJCAA Goalkeeper of the Week in Bruno Mestres who was a wall at the goal with multiple saves to keep the score at 0-0. Cowley found themselves with a chance to get on the board with a corner kick that landed just out of reach of the Saints defenders and found its way into the goal for a 1-0 Tigers lead at the 25:00 minute mark where it stayed heading into the halftime break.
In the second half it was Seward County’s defense that shined with Mestres continuing to grow his save numbers while the SCCC back-line maintained control over the Tigers. Ambrozio and Alexander Stevens-Lee helped lead the Saints down field where Ruchelli Alvarez took another chance on goal but could not get the ball past the goalkeeper as the Saints continued to fight back against a 1-0 deficit. With time becoming scarce as the clock continued to wind down, Seward County was able to set up a play off a corner kick where Francisco Nava Gomez dropped in a perfect dime to Ruchelli Alvarez who launched a rocket into the back corner of the goal to tie things up at 1-1 before the buzzer sounded.
Seward County now sits at 1-1-2 overall on the 2024 season while tying in both of their conference matchups for an 0-0-2 record in KJCCC action. The Saints will continue their road stint this Saturday in a rivalry matchup against Garden City with kickoff scheduled for 3:00 PM.