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'Dawgs Await At-Large Bids After 3rd Battle With TJC

'Dawgs Await At-Large Bids After 3rd Battle With TJC

By MIKE MONTFORT

After two regular-season ties between the NJCAA Top-10 ranked teams, one team had to win.

Unbeaten, third-ranked Tyler (16-0-2) overcame two deficits and scored twice inside the final 12 minutes to secure a 3-2 Region XIV Womens Soccer Champiomship at Pat Hartley Field on the TJC campus, where cpach Corey Rose's Apache Ladies are virtually unbeatable.

Tyler advances to a South Central District playoff at 1 pm Friday in Hillsboro against Region V winner Hill for an automatic bid to the NJCAA D-I Tournament at Stryker Soccer Complex in Wichita, Ks., November 12-18.

Meanwhile, coach Alicia Wilson's ninth-ranked Bulldogs (10-3-5) play a familiar game of 'wait-and-see' if they are chosen among the at-large selections to complete the national tournament field.  The Bulldogs have qualified via this method three of the last five seasons (2018, 2019 and 2021)

Tournament seedings will be announced at noon Tuesday, Nov. 7 on the NJCAA Network.   

In Halloween's Championship match at Tyler, the Apaches rallied with goals from Lawrencia Yeboah at 78 minutes and the game-winner from Adizatu Mustapha two minutes later. 

Navarro took a 1-0 lead to halftime thanks to Payton Wallace's 13th goal at the 35-minute mark, but  Mustapha responded with her first goal that equalized matters five minutes into the second half.

NC counter-punched for a 2-1 lead at 65:25 on Anatu Sadat's first goal of the season – an unassisted eflort, thundered from about 30 yards.

The loss ended a 14-match unbeaten streak for Navarro.

TJC, which won its third straight, is unbeaten in its last 97 matches at Hartley Field, dating back to 2016. Since 2012, the Apaches are 137-5-2 on their home pitch.  The five losses include two conference matches to Navarro (2013 and 2014), when the Bulldogs advanced to consecutive NJCAA Final Fours, two non-conference losses to Laramie County, Wy., and a 2015 forfeit to Jacksonville.   The ties were with Navarro (a 1-1 draw Oct 3, 2023) and one with Northeast Texas (2015).