When Hector Salgado came to Western Nebraska Community College two years ago, he was raw. In two years at WNCC, Salgado became one of the Cougars' top scorers, finishing just one goal shy of being one of 12 players to score 10 goals in his career.
Salgado will be taking his talents to the NCAA Division III level after committing to Knox College recently.
"I picked Knox because I wanted to think long term in what I wanted to do," he said. "They have a prestigious academic program that I wanted to be a part of for my major and they compete for championships every year, so I continue while also playing the sport I love."
His decision to attend the Illinois college wasn't easy by any means.
"It was very tough," he said. "There were a few schools that, for sure, wanted me to be in their program, but I knew that I wanted to be part of the culture at Knox."
Knox went 15-4-2 a year ago and had a 9-match winning streak. The Prairie Fire's dominance in the Midwest Conference and the national tournament was a reason Salgado picked Knox.
"They always compete in the conference tournament and always come out as winner almost consistently," he said. "They also go to the NCAA tournament a number of times. I knew they would be a good and competitive program to be a part of."
Salgado will also be going to school without his twin brother, Arcy, who was also on the Cougar team. But Arcy will be playing soccer in college as well and will announce his decision in the coming weeks.
For Hector, though, his sophomore season was solid where he and fellow teammate Saul Aguilar each scored five goals during the season to lead the team. Salgado finished his career with nine goals and was one goal away from becoming the 12th Cougar in school history to score double-digit goals, finishing with nine.
"It is crazy to think how far I came as an athlete at this school coming in as a 5-foot-6, 100-pound freshmen," he said. "If you would have asked me if I would make this much of an impact, I would say no because I didn't think I would make a difference. But I continued to train and work hard, and made a difference happen. So, it's truly an honor to be in the records and be part of the history in this school."
What helped Salgado succeed was his confidence.
"I improved a good amount," he said. "What taught me most about being at this school was to have a lot of perseverance and confidence in yourself because at the end of the day you only have yourself to count on and that's what I did my past two years. My growth from freshman year to sophomore was tremendous."
Salgado was also excited to play with his teammates one more time this summer. That, however, was washed away with the coronavirus pandemic.
"I was really devastated, super distraught at the fact that I couldn't give it my all my last few games here," he said. "I was also really looking forward to seeing [former Cougars] Ramses and Lawan at Mesa but, unfortunately, it [the spring season] had to be cut short. I really wanted to create a bond with my teammates one last time before I had to say goodbye but its fine because I know we are still close regardless."
During this pandemic, Salgado is still staying in soccer shape at home.
"Everything has been good," he said. "I have been training in my backyard and working out in my basement just keeping fit for the next season. I am following the stay at home trend that everyone should be doing or else there will be no sports for quite a while."
Salgado, who is planning on majoring in computer science, said his time at WNCC has been special with making many friends and lasting relationships.
"I met so many knew friends at this school and a few that I can call long-term friends," he said. "I met a lot of international students that I can call my family and I am forever grateful for that experience. I'm a shy guy, so I'm not very social so I'm happy I met such nice people at this school. I will also always remember being part of this program and will miss playing soccer as a whole at this school.
"I just wanted to thank the group of guys and the coaching staff for everything they have done for me this year and also my friends who I met at this college. They have been good to me and I will forever be grateful. I just wanted to give a shout out my best friends from Colorado, who kept my head in the right place throughout the tough times. They had complete confidence in me during the year and I would always go to them anytime I had problems. I'm grateful for them."