The Cougar women had 13 shots on goal, but succumbed to the No. 8 Laramie County Community College women 5-1. The Cougar men managed just four shots on the day and fell 3-0 to LCCC. Both LCCC teams advance to the district playoffs starting Nov. 2.
“We certainly played an off game and unfortunately the Region IX finals match is not the game to do it,” WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said about the women’s game. “We were still battling [to the end] and we can’t take anything away from LCCC. They are a ranked team and they are one of the top teams in the nation. They played us smart and played us hard, and they came out and got the victory.
“It was a tough one. The weather conditions weren’t good, the wind were up. We had several opportunities early to get some momentum going and we couldn’t do it. Unfortunately, we paid for it and that is how the results ended up. Not a whole lot to say. We just need to regroup and build on that for next season.”
The Cougar women had plenty of scoring opportunities early on with three good shots in the first 10 minutes of the game. Bre Perkes missed on a good shot just six minutes into the match. Then, freshman LeAnna Paxton had two good shots, the second just hitting the top crossbar.
After that, LCCC rattled off three goals in a five minute period to take a 3-0 lead. Shauna Fuentez scored the first goal off an assist by Kim Yacouta at the 18 minute mark for a 1-0 lead. Just 45 second later, Megan Erickson scored off an assist by Meredith Hogan.
LCCC went up 3-0 at the 22:40 mark on an unassisted goal by Ayla Fowler.
The Golden Eagles wasted little time in notching the first goal in the second half scoring within on minute. Yacouta scored the goal off an assist by Hogan. Five minutes later, LCCC went up 5-0 on a Hogan goal, which was assisted by Kendall Clement.
WNCC avoided the shutout as Ashley Quintana took a pass from Paxton and drove the field in blasting the ball past LCCC goalkeeper Natasha Troxler for the final goals of the match by both teams.
WNCC finished with 13 shots, five on goal, compared to 15 shots for LCCC, and 11 on goal. Cougar goalkeeper Terri Huntington had 10 saves to Troxler’s four.
While the women’s team had plenty of scoring opportunities and did find the back of the net, the men’s team was not as fortunate. The Cougar men had just four shots, two on goal, compared to 14 shots, eight of which were on goal.
The difference in the game was Cougars came out flat and watched LCCC dictate play.
“I said the other day if we come out and play a first half like we did against Western Wyoming, we would be in trouble. That is exactly what we did,” Rasnic said about his men’s play. “We came out and played flat and we couldn’t get our organization going. We really just stepped out of our game, and whether that is pressure from the opponent or from our guys, we just have to learn to play consistent soccer in every game.”
The Golden Eagles scored first at the 20:28 mark on a set piece, a direct kick that Conrrado Deniz blasted into the net from just outside the circle. The Golden Eagles added another goal seven minutes before half as Jordan Byram scored off an assist by Carlos Saenz to give LCCC a 2-0 lead at halftime.
WNCC had some scoring opportunities in the second half early. The Cougars missed on a prime opportunity with 21:40 on the clock. Five minutes later, WNCC had another scoring chance that just missed.
LCCC added an insurance goal at the 15 minute mark as Lance Vue connected on an unassisted goal.
Rasnic said that both teams has good seasons. The Cougar women finished 9-7-2, while the men at 8-10
“The good news is for us on both squads is that our record has improved over the last three years on a gradual basis and I am planning on keeping that improvement going,” he said. “With that improvement comes the better possibilities of getting out of Region IX and getting to districts. We are going to keep pushing that toward that and with the players I am looking at, we should be competitive on both sides.”
Both squads lose some talented sophomores. For the women, the team will say goodbye to Stacey Agnew, Bre Perkes, Paige Achatz, Nancy Boyack, Kiwi Wingert and Amanda Arrant. All six were part of two years of rebuilding the women’s program after the team was suspended for a season.
The men’s team will also say goodbye to seven players, including Diego Campoverde, Renato Segalla, Edwin Enriquez, Eloy Matos, Geoff Critzer, Aaron Oesterle and Steven Estrada.
“We are just going to keep working and improving upon our players for next season with our recruiting and get a team in here that will compete and play strong against LCCC,” Rasnic said. “Hopefully, you will see that happen in the next year. It is one of those things were we had a couple of years of rebuilding, and hopefully we will get the kinks worked out and get the players here to be very competitive.”
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