Men's soccer drops regional opener

Niagara County Community College dropped a tight 2-1 Region III contest to perennially-strong Tompkins-Cortland Community College on Wednesday afternoon. The Thunderwolves dropped to 0-1-1 overall and 0-1-0 in regional play.

Despite controlling play for large portions of the first half, the game remained scoreless at intermission. A costly miscue on a goal kick, though, allowed the Panthers to get on the board first and just five minutes later the visiting T-Wolves found themselves in a 2-0 hole.

"Honestly we dominated them in the first half, but that one mistake kind of broke our back," NCCC head coach Nick DeMarsh said, while noting a bevy of second-half bumps and bruises. "All the boys played hard and played well, so we'll just re-group and keep fighting."

Freshman Sunday Monguikonasi scored the lone NCCC goal in the 80th minute with an assist credited to classmate Kyren Johnson. Freshman Landan Rees had four saves in between the pipes.

The Thunderwolves return to the pitch at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for a road tilt at nationally-ranked Herkimer College.