Iowa Western entered Sunday’s contest with a 5-0 record and have yet to give up a goal. Sunday, the Reivers were just as solid defensively, in thwarting numerous Cougar scoring opportunities to register an 1-0 win.
WNCC women’s coach Todd Rasnic was pleased with his team’s efforts against a solid squad like Iowa Western.
“I told the ladies after the game, I was happy with their performance,” he said. “Obviously we would like to win every match. We are playing with a lot of freshman this year. I know looking at their line up, they had eight or nine starting sophomores. I think experience came into play.”
Sunday’s match up didn’t look like a No. 2 team facing an upcoming squad; it resembled more of a top five battle as both squads put up great defensive efforts in cold and windy conditions.
The Cougars had five prime scoring opportunities in both the first and second halves, but couldn’t cash in on the chances.
“Right now our players are not finishing their opportunities to score,” Rasnic said. “Until we do that, we will continue to struggle. Defense and our composure for freshmen players, is pretty amazing. They are composed and they are patient to the ball. They work the ball around. If things break down, they reset. I can’t say enough about that.”
Freshman Brooke Dudley had the first scoring opportunity eight minutes into the match as she couldn’t catch up with a pass that left her one-on-one with the goal keeper. LeeAnna Paxton also had two chances to score within 30 seconds of each other. The other first half scoring opportunities came from attempts from Jaime Gastelle and Ashley Quintana.
Iowa Western, on the other hand, had four shots on goal, and it took just one to find the back of the net for the game winner. With 10:06 left in the half, Lyndie Heaps took a pass in front of the Cougar bench and out-raced the Cougar defender for a one-on-one encounter with Cougar goal keeper Terri Huntington. Heaps blasted the shot in the left corner for the score.
WNCC had plenty of opportunities to net the tying score in the second half, including back-to-back corner kicks with seven minutes into the second half. The prime scoring opportunity, though, came with 15:47 to play when the Cougars had a penalty kick, but Shaylee Williams boot sailed right.
The Cougars had another prime scoring chance with just over four minutes to play, only to see Iowa Western’s goal keeper Mileena Bucher gobble up Dudley’s shot attempt.
Rasnic said the way his ladies played against the No. 2 team in the nation, fortifies that this team is capable of being a top 10-ranked team.
“I think right now I believe they are a top 10 team, and you obviously saw that today with the effort they put out on the field,” he said. “I think you will see some great things from them this year.”
WNCC, 3-3, will look to get back on the winning track against another ranked team on Wednesday when they travel to Laramie County Community College for a 4 p.m. kick off.
Rasnic said the key in picking up a win is finding a way to score.
“I think with both squads, the final one-third is our issue,” he said. “We move the ball well. We organize and we reset plays when they are breaking up, but our final one-third needs to be a bit more organized. We need to be more structured in what we are doing. We have some days to get that figured out. We will certainly work through those issues and see if we can’t go down to LCCC and come back with some wins.”
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