WNCC women's soccer shuts out Neosha, men fall by one goal

The WNCC Cougar soccer teams wrapped up the Kansas swing by splitting matches against Neosha County Community College on Monday. The women won 5-0 behind goals from five different goal scorers.

Nancy Boyack started things by taking a pass from Amanda Arrant in the 12th minute. WNCC then added four more goals in the first half for the 5-0 lead.

Arrant got the second goal off an assist by Tamika Smith, followed by a goal by Bre Perkes. Smith then picked up her second assist on the day by feeding LeAnna Paxton with a goal. Smith then finished off the scoring by taking a pass from Paxton for the final score.

WNCC had 11 shots on goal for the day, while Neosha had 0.

Rasnic said that Neosha is not that bad of a team, it is just that his girls are playing well.

“They were not a bad team, our ladies just took them out of their game from the beginning,” he said. “The second half I told the ladies to just possess the ball and I don’t think they (Neosha) touched the ball, made a pass, for the first 12 minutes of the game. Late in the game, I even pulled players and we were playing with just 10 players.”

The men couldn’t overcome a good Neosha men’s team falling 2-1. Still, the men had opportunities to win in the evenly matched contest.

WNCC finished the game with eight shots on goal to Neosha’s five, and six corner kicks to Neosha’s two. WNCC had 14 penalties compared to Neosha’s 21. In fact, it was a penalty kick that was the difference in the game.

One minute, 34 seconds into the match, Neosha scored on a penalty kick. The scored stayed that way until the 60th minute when Neosha made it 2-0.

WNCC sliced the lead in half as Eloy Matos scored off an assist by Lazzaro Torres, but they couldn’t get any closer.

“I thought we played extremely well,” Rasnic said. “It is sad to see it won on a penalty kick. It should have been a 1-1 tie.”

The Cougar men will next be in action Saturday when they host Colorado Mountain College at home beginning at noon at Lander’s Field. The women’s next contest will be Sept. 5 on the road against Western Wyoming Community College, with their home opener Sept. 8 against Barton.

WNCC soccer teams defeat Cloud County, 10-0 and 4-1

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams posted impressive victories in the second day of the Barton Classic in Great Bend, Kan., on Sunday.

The Cougar women, behind two goals and an assist by sophomore Bre Perkes (pitcured at left), shut out the Cloud County women 10-0. The Cougar men came back from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 4-1 win against the Cloud men.

The Cougar women totally dominated play against Cloud County scoring nine, second half goals to claim their first victory of the season. WNCC quickly took control as Ashley Quintana took a pass from Perkes 20 seconds into the match for a quick 1-0 lead.

The score stayed that way until the second half when the Cougar women erupted in a scoring spree. Perkes, who set a school record with 26 goals last season, highlighted the goal-scoring spree scoring the first goal of the half off an assist by Andrea Ardito. Perkes added another goal later on an assist by Tamika Smith for a 4-0 lead.

Quintana and LeAnna Paxton each had two goals as well. Quintana scored her second goal, which was unassisted, to make the score 6-0. Paxton finished off the Cougars’ scoring with the last two goals, both unassisted.

Other goals for the Cougars came from Maria Garcia off an assist by Smith, Krystin Wingert off an assist by Quintana, and Smith off an assist by Ardito.

The Cougars had 28 shots on goal compared to just one for Cloud County. Gering’s Nancy Boyack earned the win in goal, with just one save.

Rasnic said his girl’s squad finally woke up and showed just how talented they can be.

“They (Cloud) played strong in the first half,” he said. “The they were just out-played by us.”

The Cougar men also out-played their opponents after Cloud County took a 1-0 lead in the third minute of the game. After that, WNCC controlled the tempo, scoring their first goal in the 34th minute by Nikko Ouzounis. Eloy Matos and Renatao Segallo assisted on the play.

Eight minutes later, WNCC took the lead as Scottsbluff’s Geoff Critzer took a pass from Gering’s Chris Thompson to put the Cougars up 2-1 at halftime.

WNCC added to its lead with two second half goals. The first came from Mark Zigray after he took a pass from Critzer for a 3-1 lead. The final goal was an unassisted shot by Matos for the 4-1 win.

WNCC had 11 shots on goal compared to Cloud County’s two. Cesar Bazana picked up the win in goal for the Cougars.

“We completely shut them down,” Rasnic said. “We dominated them in every aspect of the game. These guys were really consistent.”

Rasnic said the key for the two victories Sunday was because of the conditioning program they have gone through.

“We are in better shape then the teams we played this weekend,” he said. “But, we will be tested tomorrow (Monday). Neosha will be tough and I am surprised they are not ranked.”

The Cougars will face Neosha on the road. The women, 1-0-1, will face Neosha at 11 a.m. (MST), while the men (1-1) will play at 1 p.m.

WNCC women's soccer ties Barton County; men fall to San Jacinto-South

GREAT BEND, Kan. – The Western Nebraska Community College soccer teams opened the season Saturday on the road and had different outcomes.

The Cougar men fell 3-1 to No. 4 pre-season ranked San Jacinto-South 3-1 in a game that went down to the wire. The women had a little bit better luck against Barton County Community College, tying 1-1 after two overtimes.

WNCC soccer coach Todd Rasnic was pleased with both teams performance.

“The women really played well. The were organized and we wore them (Barton) down,” he said. “As for the guys, we played really well. We made some defensive mistakes which cost us.”

The women outshot Barton 25-9, but each team could only get one ball in the net as both goal keepers did well. WNCC’s Terri Huntington had three saves on Barton’s four shots on goal, while Barton County’s Klarissa Harter had 11 saves.

Barton scored first netting a goal off a free kick fom Yesemia Garcia 17 minutes into the contest. The game stayed that way until the second half when Bre Perkes took a pass from Krystin Wingert and knotted the game at 1-1 at the 60^th minute.

Perkes and Amanda Arrant each had four shots on goal for the match, while Nancy Boyack, Krystin Wingert, Ashley Quintana, and Leanna Paxton each had one. WNCC also had five corner kicks to Barton’s one.

Neither team scored the last 30 minutes of regulation and through the two 10-minute overtime periods. WNCC did, however, have plenty of scoring opportunities missing five prime scoring opportunities in the extra periods.

“Literally, the ball didn’t leave our side of the field,” Rasnic said. “We just couldn’t finish the ball. But, Barton is a lot better this year then last year.”

The men’s game went down to the wire. Rasnic said the game was closer then the final score. San Jacinto jumped on top scoring the first goal at the 7:30 mark of the first half on a shot by Ricardo Kimines. San Jacinto pushed the lead to 2-0 at the 25 minute mark as Carlos Villa scored off an assist by Kimines.

WNCC quickly answered to slice the lead in half. Lazarro Torres scored off a corner kick by Eloy Matos at the 35 minute mark for the 2-1 halftime score.

San Jacinto added an insurance goal in the second half at the 65 minute mark by Corey McPherson. Rasnic said that goal was a result as his team making a push to score the tying goal.

“We were making a push to tie the game in the second half and they scored on us,” he said. “The game was a lot closer game then the what it ended up. This game proves to me that we can play against the top teams in the nation. We played better in that game then we did in any game last year.”

San Jacinto finished with nine shots on goal compared to the Cougars two. San Jacinto also finished with five corner kicks to WNCC’s 2.

Both teams will be back in action today when they play Cloud County Community College in the second day of the Barton Classic. Then, both teams will play Neosho County Community College on Monday.

WNCC men's, women's soccer teams open pre-season practices Wednesday

Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer coach Todd Rasnic got a brief look at this year’s two teams during an abbreviated opening practice Wednesday evening.

Rasnic, so far, likes what he sees.

“The players that we have this year in what I have seen of them, seems that each one has a high work ethic, they really have embraced the team concept,” he said. “We can look forward to having a good year this year. I really think the individual success of the players will come from a group of guys that will work together and be dedicated to the team concept and hard work. I think we have those type of players this year.”

The men’s team has 21 players on the roster this season with several local products, including Geoff Critzer and Shayne Tower of Scottsbluff, Chris Thompson of Gering, Tim Iodence, Morgan Wall and Tanner Herian of Alliance.

The women have 17 on the roster and Rasnic said he has an opening for one more player on his roster of 18. The women only have one local player on the team in returning sophomore Nancy Boyack of Gering, but feature six players from last year’s team.

Rasnic the numbers of players is just right.

“We have a lot of local players and we do encourage the local players to come out and try out for the team,” Rasnic said. “A lot of times in the recruiting process I will find those players. Sometimes kids will surprise you. We have certainly developed a lot of youth in this area that can play the game. We would to keep our kids here and one good way to do that is to bring them on to our local community college, get them educated and allow them to play the game they have been playing all their life.”

Both teams will get into the full practice mode with three-a-days beginning today. The team will have conditioning at 6 a.m., followed by technical training from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and then tactical sessions from 4 – 7:15 p.m.

The men made the most of the first practice with a full 1 ½ evcning session, while the women’s practice was cut short because of lightning. Both teams will also have just 10 days of practice before their first scrimmage Aug. 11 against the Colorado State University-Colorado Springs on the road.

“it is a short time., but they should have three weeks of work in after last week’s captain’s training and the players that worked on their own before this week,” he said. “We should have players that are at least ¾ in shape and ready to play. That should be a good test for us to see where we should be this year.”

Men’s Roster
Tanner Herian, 5-11freshman from Alliance; Tim Iodence, 6-4 sophomore from Alliance; Santiago Almeida, 5-8 sophomore from Quito, Ecuador; Diego Camparide, 5-4 sophomore from Quito, Ecuador; Mark Zigray, 6-0 freshman from Windsor, Colo.; Carlos Miranda, 5-9 freshman from Caguas, Puerto Rico; Edwin Enriquez, 5-6 sophomore from Quito, Ecuador; Julio Cajes, 5-9 freshman from Quito, Ecuador; Antonio Herrera-Young, 5-11 freshman from Windsor, Colo.; Lazzaro Torres, 5-6 freshman from Aurora, Colo.; Aaron Oesterle, 6-2 sophomore from Austin, Minn.; Tony Rocha, 5-5 freshman from Denver, Colo.; Nikko Ouzounis, 5-10 freshman from Aurora, Colo.; David Castillo, 5-11 freshman from Aurora, Colo.; Shayne Tower, 5-11 freshman from Scottsbluff; Chris Thompson, 6-2 freshman from Gering; Cesar Bazana, 6-2 freshman from Americana, Brazil; Renato Segalla, 6-2 sophomore from Santo Andre, Brazil; Morgan Wall, 5-10 freshman from Alliance; Geoff Critzer, 5-7 sophomore from Scottsbluff; and Eloy Matos, 5-7 sophomore from Puerto Rico.

Women’s Roster
Jessica Arreguin, 5-3 freshman from Greeley, Colo.; Lara Merkey, 5-1 freshman from Ft. Collins, Colo.; Andrea Ardito, 5-3 freshman from Sao Paulo, Brazil; LeeAnna Paxton, 5-2 freshman from Greeley, Colo.; Alisha Rapkin, 5-3 freshman from Aurora, Colo.; Claudia Gomez, 5-1 freshman from Aurora, Colo.; BreAnne Perkes, 5-4 sophomore from Plain City, Utah; Kyrstin Wingert, 5-1 sophomore from South Jordan, Utah; Paige Achatz, 5-4 sophomore from Great Bend, Kan.; Terri Huntington, 5-8 freshman from Bluffdale, Utah; Nancy Boyack, 5-3 sophomore from Gering; Maria Garcia, 5-1 freshman from Denver, Colo.; Stacey Agnew, 5-7 sophomore from Leicaster, England; Ashley Quintana, 5-5 freshman from Aurora, Colo.; Amanda Arrant, 5-4 sophomore from Hooper, Utah; Tamika Smith, 5-6 freshman from Greeley, Colo.; and Mara Crouch, 5-2 freshman from Hillsdale, Mich.

Scottsbluff's Tower signs with WNCC soccer

Scottsbluff’s Shayne Tower has always enjoyed kicking a ball, whether it was an oblong-shaped one for the Bearcat football team, or a round, multi-colored one for the soccer team.

Late Monday afternoon, Tower made that ultimate decision of what sport to pursue in college. And, after thinking about playing football at the University of Wyoming or Nebraska Wesleyan University as a placekicker, he decided to attend Western Nebraska Community College and participate in soccer.

As it turned out, Tower said it was a pretty easy choice.

“I played football this year so I was contemplating going someplace to continue to kick,” Tower said. “I was thinking I am not mature to handle all that kicking and soccer was my best sport, so I decided to pursue a career in that.”

Tower is satisfied with the decision to attend WNCC on a soccer scholarship.

“Coming here will be a great start for me to get all my basics out of the way, and it is a good start to get a feel for college soccer,” Tower said. “It will give me a feel for college athletics and get to know everybody. I am happy with the decision.”

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic is excited to get an athlete of Tower’s talent, who has played soccer since he was six years old, and has played in the competitive youth program the last eight years.

“Shayne brings some experience in the game,” the second year men’s head coach said. “He will bring some help to the defense. We lost a couple good center defenders this year and we are in the process of replacing those players. Just watching him play, he brings the sure element of the team atmosphere I am looking for and the attitude I am looking for in players.

“We are pleased to have him come on and I think he will be a very useful part of the team in 2007.”

Tower, who was one of the best placekickers in the state in football this past season helping the Bearcats to a 7-3 record and a playoff berth, is a standout center defenseman for the soccer team. Two seasons ago, the Bearcats qualified for the state championships, and last season they just missed out. Tower is expecting the same results this year as two seasons ago.

“We should be pretty good. We have a lot of returning starters and we have been playing together since we were eight years old,” he said. “Hopefully we will be able to go to state again and have a good season.”

Scottsbluff coach Pedro Sulu said Tower will be a positive addition to the Cougar soccer program.

“He has always been fun to be around and he is a player that tries his best,” Sulu said. “There is a lot of things that he can contribute to the college and he is willing to learn. He is willing to try and he is a team player. Knowing coach Rasnic, he will like Shayne on his team, and Shayne will be able to learn a lot from the system at the college and hopefully he will be able to play at a higher division later.”

Tower said that his athletic success at Scottsbluff, though, wouldn’t be possible without the support from his parents and friends. And, the biggest thing he will miss from high school after this year is the fun times the team had on trips and in practice.

“I will miss all the fun we had playing for coach Sulu and all the bus trips and watching bull fights like that,” he said. “Practices were also pretty fun.”