CHANUTE, Kan. – Win or go home. That is the motto the men's soccer team is living by as the 2014 Region VI playoffs get underway. Thursday night's game against No. 8 seed Northwest Kansas Technical College (4-7-0) was far from easy and definitely ugly, but the Panthers found a way to get the win to advance to the second round Sunday night with a 1-0 win.
 
From the opening touch the Northwest Tech Mavericks appeared to have a game plan to try and draw fouls from the top seeded Panthers. The game plan nearly worked as Neosho was whistled for 14 fouls while the Mavericks were called for 10 in a match that saw both teams receive numerous yellow cards while trying to make plays on the ball.
 
For much of the first half the Neosho defense seemed unsure how to react as they were forced to adjust to the Mavericks style of play while the officiating made the task increasingly difficult.
 
Nelson Landaverde scored his team leading 13^th goal of the season in the 10^th minute to put Neosho on top 1-0. The goal seemed to calm the Neosho defense some, and by the midway mark of the half the Panthers seemed to settle in and make it tough on the Mavericks to put anything together offensively.
 
In the second half Northwest Tech became much more aggressive on the offensive end attempting seven shots; however keeper Ryan Davis was up to the challenge, stopping all four of the Maverick shots that were on goal. His biggest stop of the game came in the 57^th minute when Maverick leading scorer Macias Alvaro blasted a shot from just outside the box. Davis skied to grab the ball before it could get past him into the upper part of the net to preserve the shutout, his 8^th of the season.
 
The Panthers extend their win streak to 10 straight games as they advance to the second round of the Region VI playoffs. Neosho will now host No. 4 seed Cloud County Community College (8-9-1) who advanced after knocking off No. 5 seed Pratt Community College 7-6 on penalty kicks after the two teams were tied at 2 after the second overtime. Kickoff for the match is set for 7:00pm at the Chanute Sports Complex.