WNCC’s nine goals were the most the team has scored this season as the eight sophomores went out winners in the team’s final home match of the season, and they did it in dominating fashion.
“I think we did an excellent job and worked very well together in this game,” Williams, the freshman from Plains City, Utah, said. “Coming off of Saturday’s match [with Western Wyoming], a lot of us were beat up, but we did good after they way we played Saturday and won in overtime.”
It didn’t take the Cougars long to take a lead, either. Just a minute and a half into the contest, Williams and Ashley Quintana teamed feeding a pass to Paxton for the first goal of the day.
After that, the Cougars misfired on several shots, just missing either high or wide. But, with just under 26 minutes to play in the half, Gastelle took a pass from Terri Huntington and found the back of the net. That goal was the start of a scoring explosion for the Cougars.
“At first it was looking pretty ugly with shots and no one was catching net,” Williams said. “But once we got a feel, we were doing really well.”
Gering’s Keah Brost continued the Cougars scoring spurt with a goal at the 19:35 mark. Brost took a pass from Maria Garcia on the right side just outside the box area and floated a perfect shot in the upper left corner for a 3-0 lead.
Williams then added a pair of goals before halftime. With 2:37 to play, Williams took a pass from Quintana and Gastelle and found the net for a 4-0 lead. Then, with just 16.9 second play, Williams scored again with the identical-type of shot that Brost scored on earlier for a 5-0 halftime lead.
WNCC added four more goals in the second half as they were shooting into a 10-15 mph wind. Andrea Ardito scored the first goal as she took a pass from Paxton in the middle and placed it in the back of the goal.
Mara Crouch, who usually plays defense, got into the scoring 15 minutes later. Crouch took a pass from Ardito and scored to make it 7-0. Two minutes later, Paxton scored her second goal as she shot from the left side, bouncing the ball off the crossbar into the net for the 8-0 lead.
Gastelle finished off the scoring as the freshman from Ft. Collins, Colo., took a pass from Huntington and fired a shot from about the 40-foot mark for the ninth goal with 5:23 to play.
Williams said this team has plenty of capable scorers and Sunday, they proved it. WNCC even played without their leading goal and assist player Ana Jacobo, who was out with an ankle injury suffered in Saturday 3-2 double overtime win against Western Wyoming.
“We do have a lot of very awesome players on the team this year,” she said. “I am excited that I got to come and have the experience to play with all of them.”
WNCC out shot the Conquistadors 16-1, and had 13 corner kicks to Dodge City’s zero. Andrea Burger recorded the save for the Cougars in net..
The Cougar women, 8-6-1 on the season, have one regular season match remaining as they travel to Hesston Community College on Oct. 14 before taking part in the regional tournament Oct. 17-19 in Rock Springs, Wyo. Williams said they do have the capability to earn that regional title, something the women’s team hasn’t accomplished since 2003, the first year of the program.
“If we can play to our full extent, this team can do a very good job at regionals,” she said. “Today’s [Sunday] match was a very fun game for the girls. We needed it.”
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