NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — College of Southern Nevada built a two-goal first-half advantage and regained the lead midway through the second half, but Central Wyoming College answered with three goals over a 10-minute stretch to rally past the Coyotes, 4-3, Thursday night at Cheyenne Sports Complex.
CSN (1-4-0) struck first in the 34th minute. Justin Gilliland helped create the opening goal, setting up Ethan Garcia for the finish at 34:04 and a 1-0 Coyote lead.
The Coyotes doubled the advantage just over five minutes later. Juan Marco Guerrero and Javier Montes combined to set up Matias Martinez, who found the net at 39:39 to put Southern Nevada ahead 2-0.
Central Wyoming (4-0-1) responded before halftime, however, as Imad Boufars scored in the 43rd minute to trim CSN's advantage to 2-1 heading into the break.
The Rustlers increased the pressure after halftime and pulled even in the 63rd minute when Frederik Lindhoej converted a Giosue Ramina assist.
CSN needed less than three minutes to answer.
Gilliland, who assisted on the Coyotes' opening goal, scored one of his own at 65:22 to restore Southern Nevada's lead at 3-2. The advantage was short-lived, as Carel Akakpo equalized for Central Wyoming at 67:06 off an assist from Boufars.
Central Wyoming completed the comeback in the 73rd minute. After CSN goalkeeper Adrian Reyes made back-to-back saves at 72:10 and 72:16, Yuki Maeda scored at 72:49 to give the Rustlers their first lead of the night, 4-3.
The Coyotes continued looking for an equalizer, forcing Central Wyoming goalkeeper Lorenzo Gvacic into another save in the 75th minute, but could not find the tying goal. CSN was reduced to 10 men when Jaxon Law received a red card in the 84th minute.
Central Wyoming finished with a 27-9 advantage in shots and put 13 attempts on goal compared with six for CSN. Reyes helped keep the Coyotes within striking distance throughout the second half, finishing with nine saves. Gilliland led the CSN attack with a goal and an assist, while Garcia and Martinez accounted for the Coyotes' other two goals.
Southern Nevada returns to Cheyenne Sports Complex on Friday, Sept. 4, when the Coyotes host Gillette College at 4:30 p.m.
