Northeast women's soccer team drops opening match at national tournament

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Northeast Community College women's soccer team faces a must-win game Tuesday after suffering a 4-1 loss in its opening game of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.

Northwest Mississippi Community College got the better of the Hawks in the first game of pool play.

The Hawks (19-3-1) held control of the ball for much of the first 15 minutes before the Rangers began to keep possession on their half of the field. Northeast went into the halftime break down 1-0 and within striking distance, but the Rangers added another goal near the start of the second half.  

Northeast was able to pull within one, but the Rangers would add two more and take Game 1 of Pool D.

“Northwest Mississippi was a very good team with a ton of team speed,” Northeast head coach Chad Miller said. “No doubt they are one of the best teams in this tournament. They took us out of our game. I would have liked to see us keep our game and battle through it.” 

The Hawks will be back on the same field at the same time Tuesday as they will take on host Pima Community College in a must-win game at 5:30 p.m. MT (6:30 p.m. CT) today at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. 

“I want us to prove that we deserve to be here,” Miller said. “These are the best teams in the nation, and I feel we are in the right place. We just need to show that we do deserve to be here.”