CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer should a lot of heart in earning a 2-2 tie in double overtime against No. 11 Laramie County Community College Wednesday in Cheyenne, Wyo.
And, it was the way the Cougar women played as they faced defeat late, overcoming a 2-0 deficit with under 15 minutes to play to record two goals while out-hustling the Golden Eagle players to the ball.
“I can’t say enough of how the ladies battled to get back in the match,“ Rasnic said. “We got several key opportunities and Shsy [Williams] did an excellent job of drawing the goal keeper out and putting her in a bad position. She had to foul her and we got the PK and we put it in this time. I just can’t say enough about the performance and the heart of these ladies. They are going to go somewhere this year if they continue to play with this kind of heart they played out here tonight.“
While the women’s team was all smiles with their gutsy performance, the men’s team suffered a heartbreaking defeat, falling to LCCC 2-1 in overtime. Te loss snapped the Cougar men’s three-game winning streak.
Both games were in tight matches, but it was the women’s game that had the most drama. Both women’s squads failed to score in the first half. LCCC cracked the scoreboard first as Megan Erickson scored with 36 minutes to play for a 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Yala Fowler went one-on-one with WNCC’s goal keeper Terri Huntington and won the battle for the 2-0 lead. That goal, however, was the last for the Golden Eagles as Huntington and the rest of the Cougar defense frustrated the Golden Eagle offense.
In fact, Rasnic couldn’t have said enough about the play of Huntington late in the game as well as the defense.
“Terri did an outstanding job in the net,” he said. “Also, in every game our defense has stepped up and tonight was no exception. The work of all the backs today was nothing short of heroic. I certainly think we have some good things coming up in the season and we will look forward to each game. We will just come out the next couple times with LCCC and show them we can play with them.”
With about 15 minutes to play, the Cougars picked up the pace and scored two goals. The first one with 9:30 to play, was a huge momentum swing. LeeAnna Paxton delivered a pass to Shaylee Williams in front of the net, who hit a shot that squeezed underneath the goal keepers hands and trickled over the line for the score.
The tying goal was even more dramatic. With only 1:53 to play, Williams dribbled the ball to the center of the box, going one-on-one with the goal keeper, who ran into Williams causing a penalty kick. Ana Jacobo too the kick and nailed the shot in the right corner for the tie.
In the first overtime, WNCC had a prime scoring chance with 2:37 to play with a shot on goal that just sailed astray.
In the second overtime, the Cougar defense came up big, including Huntington in net. The Golden Eagles had a free kick about 40 feet from net that went for naught. LCCC also had scoring opportunities twice more, including a corner kick that the Cougar defense stuffed out.
Huntington recorded six saves in the contest. LCCC out shot WNCC 7-5.
Rasnic said he is expecting great things from the women’s team after their performance Wednesday.
“You will see us improve as the season goes along. That is always our goal,” he said. “The ladies definitely did an outstanding job tonight, especially coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the second half of the game. I take my hat off to them.”
In the men’s game, LCCC scored first in the 38th minute, but the lead was short lived as Morgan Wall tied the game with a shot from in front of the net. Both teams didn’t score the rest of the half, or second half to force overtime.
Both teams, however, had a multitude of scoring opportunities in the second half after a 45-minute lightning delay. The best chance for a goal game with 3:20 to play when the Cougars had two opportunities in the box, but couldn’t connect for the score.
The Cougar’s defense also came up big to force overtime as LCCC had three consecutive corner kicks within a minutes time, which the Cougars stuffed out.
In the extra period, LCCC had the first chance for the winning goal with eight minutes to play but it was no good. Two minutes later, Tony Rocha took a pass inside the box and had a prime close shot, which he couldn’t get enough on the ball to put it in the net.
LCCC followed with the winning goal with 5:30 remaining in the overtime period as Cameron Shumway scored the winning goal as the Golden Eagles went 2-on-1 with Cougar goal keeper Cesar Bazana.
Even with the loss, Bazana had an excellent game in net, recording nine saves. WNCC had seven shots on goal.
Rasnic said his men’s squad needs to learn to play a complete game.
“I think the stats showed that we outplayed the opponent, but we struggled again tonight as we have every game with the first half play,” he said. “If we had played the first half like we played the second half, it probably would have been a different result. For some reason they have to get scored on before we start stepping up and playing the game”
Both squads will next be in action Sunday when they host Cloud County Community College at the Landers Soccer Complex. The women kick off at 10 a.m. followed by the men’s game at noon.
No comments:
Post a Comment