The Cougar women also realize they can’t take anyone for granted when they open the Region IX playoffs Friday afternoon in Rock Springs, Wyo., against Western Wyoming Community College. First kick is slated for 1 p.m.
The Cougar men, on the other hand, are on the opposite side of the boat, where they need to find the back of the net more often. The Cougar men have scored just four goals in their last five matches. The men will kick off the regional playoffs also Friday, as they take on Western Wyoming Community College at 3:30 p.m.
The winners of Friday’s contests will face Laramie County Community College on Sunday in Rock Springs. The women’s title contest is slated for 11 a.m., while the men’s title contest is slated for 2 p.m.
The Cougar women have the huge task in quest of a regional title as they must get by Laramie County Community College, the No. 4 team in the country with a 12-2-2 record. WNCC enters the playoffs with a 9-6-1 mark.
The Cougar women feel good about their chances, especially after tying LCCC 2-2 in double overtime back on Sept. 10.
“That tie was huge. Last year they lost 7-2 and this year we were down 2-0 and in second half we came back and were tied 2-2,” freshman Brooke Dudley said. “It was such an exhausting game that went into double overtime that going home everyone wanted to be knocked out on the bus. It was huge and wonderful that we tied. Hopefully we can beat them this weekend.”
Not so fast. WNCC realizes there is another hurdle in their way to a regional title and that is Western Wyoming. Dudley said they are not taking any team lightly, like they did in their past couple of contests.
“I think what we did [against Hesston] was we underestimated them and we were too relaxed,” the freshman from Ft. Collins, Colo., said. “By halftime, we just said this is ridiculous. What are we doing. We have to step it up and we did.”
In Tuesday’s contest against Hesston, WNCC trailed 2-0 at halftime until they went on a scoring explosion, tallying four, second half goals to earn the 4-3 win. Dudley and freshman Shaylee Williams were the top scorers, each tallying a goal and an assist in the win.
Dudley said they will need to play like they did in the second half for the full 90 minutes against a Western Wyoming squad they can’t underestimate. WNCC defeated the Mustangs twice this year, 2-0 and 3-2 in overtime.
“We can’t underestimate them not at all because we did that last game against them and we luckily beat them in overtime,” she said. “We just have to have our heads on straight.”
The way the Cougar women have been scoring lately, though, is a good sign. WNCC has netted 18 goals in the last four matches and the goals have come from a variety of players. That is a credit to the new system that head coach Todd Rasnic has put in.
“This last game we scored four goals and people got it in the back of the net more,” Dudley said. “Coach has been switching forwards on top more and it has been helping out.”
The Cougars have four players that have knotted five or more goals this year season, led by Williams and freshman Jaime Gastelle with seven goals each. Sophomore Ashley Quintana follows with six goals and freshman Ana Jacobo has five. Jacobo leads the team with 22 points as she has registered 12 assists to go with her five goals. Quintana and Williams also have 17 points so far this season.
Dudley said that one of the strengths of this year’s team is the bond that the girls share with each other on and off the court.
“Our strength is team unity because our team just goes so well together,” she said. “We flow so well. There is no drama on the team, we all get along. There is not one person on the team I would change.”
But, for the Cougar women to pick up the schools second Region IX soccer championship – the first coming in 2003 when the team went 19-1 – they will need to fight for every ball every minute of the game. If they do that, Dudley said they can bring home another championship to the Panhandle.
“We will need to want to win it and want it more than the other teams. We just have to have a hunger to get the ball,” she said. “We definitely have the potential to win it. I really think we want it more at this point.”
While the Cougar women are entering regionals on a bit of a high, the men need to put together a complete game. The Cougar men enter regionals with a 6-7-1 record and have scored just four goals in the last five matches. For the season, the WNCC men have been outscored 22-29.
The Cougar men did score 11 goals a couple weeks ago against Northwest Wyoming, but since then, the team tied Hastings College junior varsity 1-1 and fell to LCCC 2-1 in overtime, Hesston College 2-0, and beat Dodge City County 2-1 in overtime, and beat Western Wyoming 1-0.
Still, if the Cougar men can put together a complete contest, they can bring home a regional title in a wide-open field. Western Wyoming enters with a 9-7 record, while Laramie County has a 11-4-2 mark. The last time the Cougar men won the regional title was back in 2003, the college’s first year of fielding a soccer program.
No comments:
Post a Comment