WNCC fall to No. 11 LCCC

                 The last time the Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team played No. 11 Laramie County Community College, the two teams played in fog and mist in suffering the defeat. Wednesday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex, the weather was idea and the Cougar women played much better offensively in falling to the Golden Eagles 5-0.

                The difference between the two matches was the Cougars had 15 shots in the contest with seven being on goal compared to just six shots last time the two teams played Sept. 14 in Cheyenne.

                “We have closed the gap significantly and a lot of our players have come around,” WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. “They seem to have responded well to training and working to a more organized team. In the first game we played them, we were lacking a bit of defensive organization. This time, I think we closed the gap this time and hopefully we can continue to improve.”

                Defensively is where the Cougars hung tough and that resulted in a lot more scoring opportunities than before.

                “We made a couple of switches on defense where we got Bailey [Wenz] out of the goal today [in the second half] and got Tiffany [Snethan] in. We Bailey in the centerback position which is her primary position,” he said. “Between that and pulling Ariana Herrera back in the middle, and I think that solidified our defense quite a bit and gave us more opportunities to go forward with the ball. We certainly had our chances today to get behind their defense; unfortunately we didn’t come away with any points.”

                The Cougar women were only outshot 24-14 in the contest. The Golden Eagles led 3-0 at intermission. Shino Kunisawa scored in the 36^th minute off an assist from Junko Honda. Three minutes later, Kunisawa scored her second goal off a free kick. The Cougar defense would hold until LCCC was awarded a penalty kick with no time on the clock. LCCC’s Jezmine Lora Ruiz just snuck the kick into the net on the right corner.

                WNCC came out in the second half with a new look and played tough as the Cougars had a number of shots that just fell either high or wide. Rachelle Tekler had a booming kick with 24 minutes left that just sailed high. Three minutes later, LCCC went up 4-0 on a goal by Vanessa Alexander. The Golden Eagles tacked on an insurance goal in the 9^th minute off a goal by Monica Lubin with an assit from Honda.

                Wenz started in net in the first half, making six saves for the Cougars, while Snethan played the second half making five saves.

                The Cougars, 3-6 on the season, will next be in action Tuesday at 1 p.m. when they host Cloud County Community College at the Landers Soccer Complex. Cloud County is currently 7-2 and riding a seven-game winning streak after opening up the season with two losses to Hutchinson and Johnson County Community Colleges.

WNCC men fall 3-0 to LCCC

                 The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team forgot to bring their offensive game to the soccer complex, falling to Laramie County Community College 3-0 in a Region IX contest at the Landers Soccer Complex Wednesday afternoon.

                The Cougar men managed just four shots in the contest while the Golden Eagles had 25 shots in the contest. A major reason for the disadvantage, however, was because two of the Cougar’s top scorers – Jose Netto and Jacob Santos – were sitting out because of card violations in previous games.

                “We had a couple boys sitting out because of red card violations, so that kind of hurt us since our normal rotation of players broke down,” WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. “We were really at a disadvantage, but we are starting to move in a direction where we are getting a lot of that fixed now with the mentality of the players. Hopefully you will see a different team when the men walk out on to the field.”

                Defensively, the Cougar men showed up as they only trailed 1-0 at intermission after LCCC’s Alfonso Perea scored off an assist from Landon Horst in the 37^th minute. After that, the Cougar defense shut the Golden Eagles down.

                The second half was a little better offensively for the Cougars. LCCC went up 2-0 with 40 minutes to play on an own goal after the ball slipped past the Cougar goalkeeper. WNCC came back and had a couple of excellent attempts on goal. The first came in the 27^th minute as a shot just went high.

                The best chance of a goal, however, came a minute later after Baboucarr Sarr went one-on-one with the Golden Eagle goalkeeper Colby Keller, who stayed with Sarr and made a nice save on a sure goal.

                LCCC added an insurance goal in the 23^rd minutes after Peterson Nen planted a free kick into goal for the final margin.

                The Golden Eagles outshot the Cougars 25-4. LCCC also had eight corner kicks to WNCC’s one.

                Jesus Alvarado started in net for the Cougars, giving up one goal and collecting six saves. Joey Rasnic was in net in the second half, giving up two goals and two getting four saves.

                WNCC, 5-6-1, will be back in action Tuesday when they host Cloud County Community College at 3 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex. Cloud County comes in with a 7-1-2 record, having registered shut outs in their last three games.

                Rasnic said this will be a big contest. Last year, Cloud County won 1-0 in Concordia, Kan., scoring a goal in the 62^nd minute.

                “Cloud County is playing teams that are ranked in the top five in the nation and playing a lot of teams in their own region that are ranked opponents. We have a big challenge ahead of us to get ourselves back on solid footing on the men’s side,” he said. “I think the men can do it; they just have to make the decision that they have to play and increase the intensity level of their game, and play with a bit more heart out there. In today’s game, that was lacking. They know it and I know it, so we are going to work in training to get them moving at the speed the game is demanding. If we can do that, we can beat any team in Region IX. However, if they continue to just play at half speed or three-quarters speed, we are going to have a struggle the rest of the year.”

WNCC sweeps McCook in Breast Cancer Awareness night

 

                Western Nebraska Community College sophomore Dani Grace had special incentive in playing Tuesday night’s match against McCook Community College during Breast Cancer Awareness night.

                While Grace helped her No. 1 Cougar defeat McCook 25-6, 25-10, 25-9 with 11 service points, more importantly, Grace was playing for her mother, Wanda, who is a breast cancer survivor of two years.

                Grace said this was a special night for bringing awareness to the cause, which so far has raised over $3,000 for the Festival of Hope.

                “I think it is really special. This is for all the people [Grace paused for a moment] who has had breast cancer and strong enough to survive,” she said. “Personally, I played today’s game for my mom because she is a survivor of breast cancer. She fought for two years. I actually cried in the locker room when coach [Giovana Melo] was giving a speech. It was pretty emotional.”

                Grace not only was playing for her mom, but also her dad (George Kuamo’o) who had lung cancer and passed away when she was in high school in Hawaii.

“I played for my mom and papa,” she said. “He didn’t get to see me play my senior year and my two years of college because he passed away. It was for him, too.”

While tonight was for Breast Cancer Awareness, Grace said it is also for all individuals that has had loved ones fighting cancer of some sort.

“Tonight wasn’t just for people with breast cancer,” she said. “It was for everyone with all types of cancer as well.”

The Cougars definitely made the night special not only in bringing awareness to breast cancer, but helping the Cougars pick up their 20^th win of the season. It was a night that saw many plusses for the top-ranked Cougars, both on and off the court.

“I thought we played well,” Grace said. “We just tried to improve on the things we like to do, which is keeping our energy through the whole time. Sometimes it is hard to bring the energy level all the time when we play some teams.”

WNCC took control early as Grace served four points to push the Cougars to a 14-3 lead. Abbey Wade then added another four points for a 19-4 lead and then Fernanda Goncalves served out the side with three points for the 25-6 win.

Game two was a little closer at the beginning as Janessa States; had an early kill and the Indians only trailed 5-4. Grace turned the game around with four straight service points for a 10-4 lead. Grace finished out the contest with a four-point service run for the 25-10 win.

McCook’s Shanice Malone had an early kill to cut the Cougar lead to 6-4, but things changed in a heartbeat as Wade served up two aces for an 11-5 lead and then Alyssa Olson went on a four-point service run, including two aces, for a 19-7 lead. Taylor VanderWerff finished off the contest with four service points.

WNCC was led by Debora Araujo with 13 kills, two aces and seven digs. Wade finished the night with six kills, one block, three aces and four digs; while Jodi Huddleston had had five kills and three blocks.

Also for the Cougars, Megan Johnson had three kills; Alyssa Ostrander had two kills; VanderWerff had three kills and an ace; Grace had 11 points, an ace serve, and four digs; Lais Soares had two kills and three blocks; Goncalves had 19 set assists and three digs; Olson had nine set assists and an ace serve; and Alex Rivera had eight digs, three set assists and an ace serve.

States led McCook with five kills.

WNCC, 20-0, will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Liberal, Kan., for the Seward County Invite. The Cougars will face Western Texas College, Pratt Community College, and Missouri State-West Plains.

Also, Breast Cancer Awareness T-shirts orders are still being taken. Individuals that would like a pink shirt, should contact Amy Winters at 308-641-5125.

WNCC volleyball goes to 19-0 on the season

                The Western Nebraska Community College and Eastern Wyoming College volleyball teams finished the Wyo-Braska Shootout in good fashion on Saturday, winning both their matches.

               The No. 1 Cougars easily swept past Air Force Prep 25-20, 25-16, 25-13, before registering a sweep over Laramie County Community College 25-17, 25-13, 25-16 to finish the tournament as the only undefeated team with a 4-0 mark. WNCC's dominating tournament performance, in which the Cougars never dropped a set, moved the Cougars record to 19-0.

               The Lancers also had a nice ending to the tournament, beating Lamar Community College 25-16, 20-25, 25-10, 25-22, before taking out Air Force Prep 25-17, 25-18, 24-26, 25-18. The Lancers went 3-1 in the Invite.

               WNCC coach Giovana Melo said her team continues to roll right along after playing well in the tourney.

               "I thought we did a pretty good job. I thought we were up and down and struggled a little bit after the match with Western Wyoming, and same with this morning where we didn't have a lot of energy," she said. "Even though we are winning, we need to be a little bit more consistent."

               The Air Force Prep win was a team victory as the Cougars combined for 45 kills and had nine blocks. They also had a strong serving game, finishing with 11 aces, including Fernanda Goncalves getting six and Alex Rivera finishing wiht four.

               As for hitting, Danika Youngblood hammered home 13 kills followed by Megan Johnson with nine, Lais Soares and Abbey Wade with five each, and Alyssa Ostrander, Debora Araujo, Taylor VanderWerff and Goncalves with three kills each.

               Also for the Cougars, VanderWerff, Goncalves, Youngblood, and Johnson each had two kills. Goncalves also had 27 set assists and eight digs; Youngblood had seven digs; RIvera had nine digs; Grace had four digs; and Wade with six digs.

               Melo said the depth that they are building is making this team stronger and stronger. She was pleased with how they all played in the Prep win.

               " it is really good the depth that we have. it makes the team better and we are getting better as a team," she said. "We are getting better every day and we are getting overall better with every aspect of the game."

               WNCC was just as impressive against LCCC, who swept Northeastern Junior College earlier in the day. The Cougars pounded home 37 kills and had 11 blocks. Aruajo led the way with 11 kills, two blocks, and seven digs. Soares finished with nine kills, while Youngblood had seven kills, two blocks, and seven digs.

               Also for the Cougars, Goncalves had two blocks, 27 set assists, and 10 digs; Rivera had 11 digs; Grace with seven digs; and Johnson with two kills and eight points.

               The Lancers also had a good day. EWC coach Verl Petsch said they played strong in most of the sets, except for the one set in each match they started to lose focus and relaxed.

               "Against Lamar, I thought we played quite well," he said. "We took control in the first set. We then came out flat and let them back into the match in the second before coming on strong in games three and four. I thought our setters did a nice job moving the ball and distributing the ball to our hitters."

               Austin Daley led the Lancers with 13 kills while Karson Dingman and Alanna Freel each had six kills. Shelby Brewer finished with 17 assists, while Dakota Clough had 18 digs, 27 points and seven aces. Freel also finished with five stuff blocks.

               Against Air Force Prep. Petsch said they came out and dominated the first two sets.

               "We came out and won the first two sets and had good control," he said. "We then got conservative and AIr Force moved the ball on us while we didn't move our feet and wo the third set."

               Daley and Freel finished with 16 and 10 kills each, while Brewer had 25 set assists and 17 points. Clough finished with 12 digs, eight points, and three aces, while Dingman had two blocks.

               The Lancers and Cougars will each host contests on Tuesday. EWC will host Laramie County Community College in a North sub-region contest at 7 p.m. The Cougars will take on McCook Community College at 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace in Breast Cancer Awareness night where spectators are asked to wear pink in honor of all breast cancer survivors.

Saturday’s Results
Laramie County over Northeastern Colorado – 25-20, 27-25, 25-23; Northwest Wyoming over Williston State – 25-16, 25-18. 25-14; WNCC over Air Force Prep – 25-20, 25-16, 25-13; Casper College over Williston State – 24-26, 20-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-8; Northwest Wyoming over Barton – 25-14, 20-25, 25-22, 17-25, 15-8; WNCC over Laramie County – 25-17, 25-13, 25-16;
Casper College over Lamar C.C. – 25-16, 25-17, 25-15
At EWC Verl Petsch Activities Center
Barton over Sheridan – 25-16, 25-13, 25-21; Western Wyoming over Seward County -- 25-23, 25-13, 25-19; EWC over Lamar C.C. – 25-16, 20-25, 25-10, 25-22; Seward County over Sheridan – 29-31, 25-20, 25-21, 27-25; EWC over Air Force Prep -- 25-17, 25-18, 24-26, 25-18; Western Wyoming over Northeastern Colorado -- 25-23, 25-15, 25-19.

Blicharz, Netto each score three goals, women defeat Western Wyoming while men fall in double overtime

               ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. -- Kristi Blicharz scored three goals and the Western Nebraska Community College women's soccer team stopped a four-game losing streak by registering a 5-3 win over Western Wyoming Community College Saturday in Rock Springs, Wyo.

               The Cougar men also received three goals from Jose Netto, but they weren't as fortunate, falling to the Mustangs 6-5 in double overtime in a Region IX contest.

               "The women played pretty good. They moved the ball well," WNCC soccer coach Todd Rasnic said. "We still made some mistakes and missed some of our scoring opportunities. We came out with several injuries. The game was extremely physical.

               "As for the men, they played well for much of the match. We can't put together a complete game and until we get the complete packaged put together, we will continue t have these type of games. We can almost outscore opponents, but when we stop scoring on our chances, the other team stays in the game."

               The women led 2-1 at intermission after getting goals by Celia Carmona and Bridget Stanton. WNCC opened up the contest as Blicharz went off on the Mustang defense scoring three goals in the second half. It was Blicharz third career hat trick in her two years at the college. Blicharz had back-to-back hat tricks to open the season last year.

               Earning assists for the Cougar women were Stanton, Ashley Gleason with two, and Fernanda Acorinte.

               The win for the Cougar women stops a four-game losing streak that saw the Cougars out-scored 20-0 during that stretch.

               The Cougar women out shot the Mustangs 17-11. Bailey Wenz picked up the win in net, collecting eight saves and allowing three goals.

               The men's contest was intense. WNCC held a 2-1 lead before both squads ended up tied at 5-5 after regulation. Western Wyoming won the contest with two minutes left in the second overtime to pick up the conference win.

               Netto had the hot leg, scoring three times in the match. Netto now has 12 goals on the season. WNCC also received two goals from Baboucarr Sarr in the match. Picking up assists for the Cougars included Sarr, Erwin Sanchez with two, and Jabob Santos.

               WNCC out shot Western Wyoming 22-18. Joey Rasnic made five saves and gave up four goals, while Jesus Alvarado made five saves and gave up two goals.

               The Cougar men and women will be back in action Sunday when they face North Idaho College in Rock Springs, Wyo. The two squads will then return home to face Laramie County Community College on Wednesday at the Landers Soccer Complex with the men's contest starting at 1:30 and the women's game at 4 p.m.

No. 1 WNCC takes down No. 2 Western Wyoming

               The battle between No. 1 and No. 2 went the way of Western Nebraska Community College as the Cougars swept past Western Wyoming Community College behind 14 kills from Debora Araujo to open the Wyo-Braska Shootout on a positive note Friday at Cougar Palace.

               The Cougars earned the much anticipated match with Western Wyoming by earning the sweep over the No. 2 ranked Mustangs 25-20, 25-20, 25-18. WNCC followed that marquee match with a sweep over No. 15 Barton Community College 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 to push their record to 17-0. The mustangs fall to 18-1 after the first day of the tournament.

               WNCC sophomore Lais Soares said the win against Western Wyoming was sweet, but she was surprised to get a sweep over a talented Mustang squad.

               "We played like a team. we played together," she said. "It is surprising that we won in three sets because I thought it was going to go five sets. The team, however, did a good job today."
               This marquee match up was all it was made out to be as both squads fought like two prize fighters going for the championship of the world. The opening set was nip and tuck after Western Wyoming sliced the lead to 15-14. WNCC rebounded as Megan Johnson hammered down a kill and then served three points to go up 19-14.

               Western Wyoming bounced back to 19-18 as Olivera Medic served four points. WNCC came back to take a 21-18 lead and then went up 24-18 on a Jodi Huddleston and Fernanda Goncalves block. The Cougars won the first set as Araujo put down a soft hit for the winner.

               Western Wyoming held a 17-16 lead late in the second set until Alex Rivera came in  to serve three straight points to put the Cougars up 24-20. Moments later, Araujo hammered home another kil for the winner.

               The third set saw Western Wyoming lead 11-7 and 13-11 in the third set. Araujo changed the momentum as she served five points, including a hammering kill by Danika Youngblood and two backrow kills from Araujo to go up 17-13. WNCC put the game away as Youngblood served four points to go up 24-15 before winning 25-18.

               Araujo paced the Cougars with 14 kills, two blocks, and five blocks. Also for the Cougars, Youngblood finished with seven kills and five digs; Soares had seven kills and three blocks; Johnson had four kills and four blocks; Huddleston had two kills and two blocks; Goncalves had two kills, two blocks, 31 set assists, and six digs; Rivera had 13 digs and four aces; and Dani Grace had five digs and two aces.

               The Cougars were just as impressive against Barton behind a 22-kill performance from Araujo. The sophomore also had 14 digs in the win. Soares also came up big against Barton with 11 kills, followed by Youngblood with nine kills, and Huddleston with six.

               Youngblood also had two aces and 11 digs, while Rivera had 13 digs; Grace had four digs; Soares with six digs; and Goncalves with 10 digs and 40 set assists.

               The Cougars will have two more matches in the Wyo-Braska Shootout on Saturday as they face Air Force Prep at 12 noon and Laramie County Community College at 4 p.m. Air Force Prep topped Casper College on Friday in five sets 23-25, 25-19, 25-27, 28-16, 15-10.

               Soares says they need to keep taking one match at a time and keep playing as a team like they did on Friday.

               "We are playing strong and we are not going to let down," she said. "We are No. 1 and we have to keep coming out hard."

               The Eastern Wyoming College Lancers went 1-1 on the first day of the tournament. The Lancers opened with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-22 loss to Barton Community College, before picking up a five-set win over Williston State 21-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 15-9.

               In other scores in the tournament at EWC, Seward County topped Laramie County 25-11, 26-24, 25-23; Air Force Prep over Casper 23-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-16, 15-10; Laramie County over Williston 25-13, 25-19, 25-16; Northeastern Colorado over Sheridan 25-20, 25-23, 25-15; and Casper over Seward County 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23.

               In other scores at Cougar Palace, Northeastern Colorado topped Northwest Wyoming 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, 29-27; Sheridan defeated Lamar 32-30, 25-22, 25-18; Northwest Wyoming over Lamar 22-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-20; and Western Wyoming over Air Force Prep 25-20, 25-16, 25-14.

Saturday’s Schedule

At WNCC

10 a.m. – Northeastern Colorado vs. Laramie County, Northwest Wyoming vs. Williston State; 12 noon – WNCC vs. Air Force Prep; 2 p.m. – Casper College vs. Williston State, Northwest Wyoming vs. Barton; 4 p.m. WNCC vs. Laramie County, Casper College vs. Lamar C.C.

At EWC

10 a.m. – Barton vs. Sheridan, Western Wyoming vs. Seward County; 12 noon – EWC vs. Lamar C.C.; 2 p.m. – Sheridan vs. Seward County; 4 p.m. – EWC vs. Air Force Prep, Western Wyoming vs. Northeastern Colorado