The first round of the men's soccer NJCAA Region IX tournament took place this past Saturday afternoon. The CWC Rustler players and coaches made the trek South to Colorado State University's field in Pueblo, Colorado to take on Otero College. The neutral field played to Central Wyoming's advantage, CWC fans had traveled well and made their presence known. Unfortunately, the Rustlers struggled to fill the stat sheet as well as their fans filled the stadium.

Otero attacked the Central Wyoming defensive line early and often, and the Rattlers' first goal came from an unlucky incident. Center back Shayden Scott tackled their striker and in the process, ricocheted the ball into CWC's net. Not much more than five minutes later into the match, the Rustler's starting goalkeeper, Morgan Kendall, was removed from the pitch with an injury after a chaotic scramble for the ball in the penalty box. Stanley Schumann stepped up and replaced Kendall, and did a magnificent job for the remaining 80 minutes of the game.

Injuries plagued Central Wyoming over the course of the match, occurring once again at the 22-minute mark of the first half. This time it was Camilo Correa who was struck down with an injury and freshman Ryan Hill was sent in as his replacement. The injury bug struck again near the end of the first half when Josh Jackson was in a scramble for the ball and collided with an Otero player. CWC had key contributions from Eduardo Bicca and Oscar Hernandez, who both handled the defensive duties for the second half of the match. Overwhelmed by setbacks, the CWC men's soccer team fought hard but found themselves returning home with a 0-3 loss. The loss marks the end of the 2024 fall season for the men's soccer team, who finished with a 3-6-3 overall record.