By James Hernandez

The word Rivalry (ri-val-ry) is defined as a competition for the same objective, or for superiority in the same field by similarly minded or skilled groups of individuals. A phrase the perfectly describes both the Snow College Badgers and College of Southern Nevada Coyotes. Over the past two and a half seasons of play both sides have claimed its fair share of "instant classics" which includes the Badgers epic 2017 Region XVIII title game victory last season in Henderson, Nevada. These two blood-rivals prepared to add another chapter to the rivalry as they matched up in the opening round of the 2018 Region XVIII tournament this past weekend in Salt Lake, City.

Southern Nevada drew first blood in the battle after Jesus Gonzalez beat the Badger's keeper at the 12:43 mark of the opening half to stake the Coyotes to a 1-0 lead. Stellar defense by CSN kept Snow College off the board in the opening half, giving them a 1-0 lead at intermission. The Coyotes continued to play the match with an emphasis of the defensive of the ball and dominated the pace of play until Snow's Daniel Hagopian struck a perfect free kick in the 81^st minute. Hagopian netted the equalizer with less than nine minutes remaining in the second half, leveling the match 1-1. Both sides entered the beginning of overtime at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum, with the Coyotes wondering what may have been if they only held on for a few more minutes, and the Badgers riding high after tying the match with under ten minutes remaining in regulation play.

Opportunity knocked for both sides in the overtime, unfortunately it was the Badgers who capitalized on the 98^th minute with a game-winning goal off the boot of Paiden Meecham to stun Southern Nevada 2-1.

A second consecutive postseason exit at the hands of Snow College will surely haunt Southern Nevada this offseason, however sometimes failures like the past two seasons are a necessary part of the development process that leads to a program's future success. For Coach Hawkins and his staff, only time will tell…

Fans the 2018 Men's Soccer season may be over, but the flow of information never stops! Make sure to stay logged onto www.csncoyotes.com as well as Twitter @CSN_MSoc and Facebook CSNCoyotes to stay updated on all the offseason happenings in the world of CSN soccer.