ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Northampton men's soccer team continued their push toward the Region XIX playoffs, downing conference rival Lehigh Carbon Community College, 2-1, on Wednesday afternoon at Iron Lakes.

Aaron Guerra got the Spartans on the board first, taking a throw in from Josh Houck in the box and putting a shot past the LCCC goalkeeper for a 1-0 advantage.

Guerra later found Brian Garcia through the Cougar defense, who then hit a streaking Tyler Garr who found the back of the goal for a 2-0 NCC lead.

The Cougars did not quit, as Spartan goalkeeper Ronnie Mendizabal tried to clear a ball up the line, but LCCC's Jason Pristash stole the ball and scored to make the final score 2-1.

"It was a physical game," commented Head Coach Joe Heitczman, "these players are very familiar with each other and it lends itself to a very emotional contest.  I'm proud of how my kids responded, especially coming off a very tough game last night vs. Bucks (a 2-1 NCC victory)."

NCC, which is trying to qualify for the Region XIX playoffs for the first time since 2010, improved to 5-3-1 in Region XIX (5-6-1 overall) with three Region games remaining.  The Spartans must win one more Region contest to assure themselves of a playoff berth.

LCCC falls to 2-6-0 in Region XIX and 3-6-0 overall.

The Spartans travel to nationally-ranked Ocean County College on Saturday to face the Vikings in a non-conference/non-region matchup.

Statistics
Shots:  NCC 6 / LCCC 2
Saves: NCC 1 / LCCC 4
Corners: NCC 3 / LCCC 2
Fouls: NCC 21 / LCCC 21