Cardinal men gear up for Region 18 run

COEUR d'ALENE — Even in a setback, second-year North Idaho College men's soccer coach Brad Williams can tell this team can contend later this week. 

Salt Lake's Gabriel Miranda scored in the 18th minute for the second-ranked Bruins in a 1-0 win over the 15th-ranked Cardinals in the Scenic West Athletic Conference final for both on Saturday at Eisenwinter Field. 

"We worked extremely well together, but were very unlucky not to score a goal," Williams said. "We hit the crossbar in the second half and had other chances. It was a really good performance and we're looking forward to Thursday and traveling to the playoffs." 

NIC (13-3-3, 8-2-4 SWAC) will be the third-seed to the Region 18 Tournament and face second-seeded Snow on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in Taylorsville, Utah.  

Salt Lake (15-0-1, 13-0-1, the conference champion, hosts Utah State-Eastern in the other semifinal, with the winner's playing Saturday at 1 p.m. 

First half — 1, SLCC, Gabriel Miranda (Joon Han), 18:11. Second half — none. 

Shots on goal — SLCC 4, NIC 1. 

Saves — SLCC, Ben Maw 1; NIC, Tristan Edwards 3. 

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