WNCC women fall in soccer finals

The Laramie County Community College women’s soccer team captured their second straight Region IX title with a 5-0 win over Western Nebraska Community College on a drizzly Saturday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex in the Region IX playoffs.

LCCC, with the win, will now host the district tournament Nov. 5-6. WNCC also earned a berth in the district tournament via their runner-up finish.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said they knew they faced an uphill battle against a the No. 10 ranked Golden Eagles.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match coming in. They have a very strong team; probably the best team I have ever seen them have,” Rasnic said. “We came in, tried a few different things, and had a bit of possession early on about 15 to 20 minutes in. But they certainly overpowered us with their possession in the midfield and their strong attacking play. We struggled on getting our offense organized, and once we got it organized and then started penetrating and getting a few shots, it was a bit too late in the match.”

LCCC wasted little time in scoring the first goal of the title match as Melissa Ledesma took a pass from Shino Kunisawa just four minutes in. WNCC came back with a couple of scoring opportunities of their own, just missing on a shot eight minutes in the game and later 15 minutes into the contest.

The Golden Eagles held onto the 1-0 lead until late in the first half when Amanda Halter outran the defense, going one-on-one with the goalkeeper and putting the ball into the net for the 2-0 halftime lead.

LCCC continued its strong offensive possession, netting its third goal of the contest just seven minutes into the second half. Monica Lubin scored from an assist from Halter. Both teams played tough from there, before the Golden Eagles scored another goal in the 64^th minute as Emi Yamamoto took a rebound and tapped the ball into net.

The Golden Eagles final goal came in the 80^th minute as Halter scored her second goal of the game off an assist from Yamamoto.

WNCC had three corner kicks to the Golden Eagles’ four corner kicks.

The positive that Rasnic saw from the match was his squad gained some more experience against a talented squad like LCCC.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game and we feel like the girls got some more experience playing at a good level,” he said. “We are pleased that the girls have advanced and will be involved in district playoffs. The other teams that we play, I feel we have a very good shot at hanging with and beating, so we are looking forward to that time.”

WNCC will play the winner of the Kansas Region, which could be either Hutchinson or Johnson County. By virtual of winning the regional tournament, LCCC will face North Idaho College. The district playoffs begin Nov. 5.

Rasnic thinks they should be ready, especially if they can get Daisy Rosales back, who missed the last three games with an injury.

“Hopefully we will get Daisy back because she adds a lot of speed and physical presence to the midfield,” he said. “We are looking forward to the districts and hopefully things will improve as we continue to train here over the next couple of weeks. We will put a different team on the field when we play in the district playoffs.”