Oct. 15, 2011 -- Western Nebraska Community College's Ashley Gleason scored two goals and the Cougar women overcome came some 2-week rust in dropping Western Wyoming Community College 2-1 in double overtime.
The win was the Cougars sixth of the year and it came after nearly a two week break in competition. The contest was also the last for the eight sophomores.
Kristi Blicharz, one of the eight sophomores who had the assist on the winning goal, said the team played alright for having the long layoff and heading into the regional playoffs next weekend.
"This was a very important win for us because it determined where we sat in the playoffs. Although we didn't play our best, it was important for us to finish with a win today," Blicharz said. "We missed a lot of our chances today and I think that had a lot to do with us not playing for almost two weeks. We just need to keep our focus. We have a lot of practice to do but we can do it."
The Cougars started the contest strong as Gleason opened the contest with a goal just 10 minutes into the contest. Fernanda Acorinte and Rachelle Tekler picked up the assists on the goal.
The contest stayed at 1-0 until Western Wyoming managed a goal with eight minutes to play in the half. Each team entered halftime tied at 1-1.
WNCC had plenty of scoring opportunities in the second half. Tekler, a defensive player, had a prime shot that she lofted toward the goal and came within inches of bouncing over the goalkeeper's head for the goal. WNCC misfired a couple of other times sending the contest in overtime.
Neither team scored in the first 10 minutes, but just four minutes into the second overtime period, Gleason ended the contest as she followed a shot by Blicharz and planted the ball into the back of the net. Blicharz said the winning shot was due to the sophomores not wanting to lose in their final home contest.
"We missed a couple of chances in the first overtime so the second overtime we went out even harder," she said. "Fernanda played a thru ball to me and I tried to place it in the net but it came off the keeper and Ashley Gleason was there to finish it. It was a great feeling knowing that we had won after battling so hard and not being able to put pieces together like the last time we played them."
Blicharz said that overtime period was stressful.
"There was a lot of stress going into overtime because you go in trying to play harder than the regular time and you don't want to lose," she said. "When we went into overtime, we all came together. The sophomores knew it was the last time playing on this field so we knew we had to come out strong when it counted."
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