WNCC women top Barton, men fall in overtime

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams split a pair of contests in the second day of the Barton Classic Sunday afternoon at Great Bend, Kan.

The Cougar women recorded two first half goals and then put together a strong defensive game to shut out Barton Community College 2-0.

The men, on the other hand, lost a heartbreaker to No. 8 Barton in falling 1-0 in overtime.

WNCC soccer coach Todd Rasnic said both teams played well.

“The women’s team was a different team today [Sunday] then they were Saturday,” Rasnic said. “The team woke up and realized that the level they played at against Butler [a 3-2 loss in overtime on Saturday] wasn’t going to work. They organized better and they had more opportunities to score, and they defended better as a group.”

Jaime Gastelle started the scoring, taking a pass from Ana Jacobo in the 10^th minute for a 1-0 lead. Jacobo followed with a goal in the 21^st minute off an assist from Keah Brost for the 2-0 lead.

That was all the women really needed as the team pitched a shutout. WNCC had nine shots on goal while Barton had six shots on goal.

“We are in it to score goals,” Rasnic said. “But if you don’t defend well, then you have to score more and more. Right now we are working off our strengths and our strength is our defense. So we are defending well and that will give us quality scoring opportunities.”

The men’s contest also featured good defense from both squads as both teams failed to score through the 90-minute regulation period. Then, late in the first overtime, Barton finally snuck a shot into the net for the winner.

Rasnic said the men’s team had chances, but was proud of the way they played. Barton had 12 shots on goal and the Cougars had seven shots.

“We missed a couple of prime scoring opportunities and should have won the game,” Rasnic said. “They certainly pressured us harder then we pressured them, but our games, from day one, have been playing very composed, staying calm and working well together.”

“I look for good stuff from the men’s teams. That was their second loss but the losses were to two teams in the top 10.”

Both teams will be in action Saturday in Laramie, Wyo. The women will face Salt Lake Community College, while the men will battle the University of Wyoming. Rasnic said they will be tough contests.

“Both teams will be challenged to play at an extremely high level,” he said. “I think they will do it. We certainly are not over our heads. We don’t know where we will end up yet, but we will be OK.”