WNCC women's soccer team brings new attitude to this season

Last year when the Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team opened pre-season practice they didn’t even have enough players to field a full team. This season is a total different story as the Cougar women opened practices for the coming year with 17 players and a much improved attitude over last year at this time.

“It is a big difference between years,” sophomore Nancy Boyack said. “We can do most of our workouts because we can do more with more players. Practices are going a lot better then it did last year. We are a lot farther a long.”

The Cougar women, along with the men’s team, are enduring three-a-day workouts in preparation for the season opener Aug. 25 in Great Bend, Kan. And, by the intense look of all the women players, they are excited for the season.

“I am ready for the season. I have been waiting for this day ever since I got the news I was going to be on the team,” freshman Tamika Smith of Greeley, Colo., said. “We have a lot of talent, but like with every team, there is room to improve. There are a lot of girls out here that have the heart and talent.”

Thursday’s three-a-day practices started with conditioning at 6 a.m. Then, the team went through some technical drills in the afternoon, which concluded with a one-on-one firing drill on freshman goalkeeper Terri Hunnington, who sparkled in net.

The first day concluded with a technical session with more ball work and drills.

Boyack, who was a three-sport star at Gering High School, this year’s team is laden with talent, making practices intense.

“We have a lot of talent and a lot of girls with great skills,” she said. “Last year we had talent about six or seven players, and then filled in with other players. This year we are surrounded with a lot of talent.”

WNCC returns just six players back, including Boyack, from last year’s team, including the all-time season goal leader Bre Perkes from Plain City, Utah. Last season Perkes had finished with 26 goals in her first season. Also returning for the Cougars are Stacy Agnew of Leicester, England; Paige Achatz of Great Bend, Kan.; Krystin Wingert of South Jordan, Utah; and Amanda Arrant of Hooper, Utah.

Perkes and Smith, though, are currently rehabbing ACL knee injuries. For Smith, it is like four-a-day workouts.

“I am ready to play even though I am currently nursing my ACL,” she said. “I am rehabbing and getting ready to play, but I am not nervous yet. In high school we did two-a-days., so three a days is definitely something new.”

Smith, who was all-conference for Northridge High, said college soccer is different in then high school, especially the running aspect.

“We run a lot more here and we didn’t run as much in high school,” she said. “There is a lot of heart and effort you need to put into it. But, I am ready for the season to start.”

So is Boyack as the team prepares for a scrimmage Aug. 11 against Colorado State University-Pueblo on the road.

“We are really excited for that scrimmage,” she said. “We might be a little bit out of shape, but that game will be good experience for us. I am excited for the season. We have a lot of good players coming in this year and we will do a lot better.”

Former Cougar Hanavan goes out a winner

Not many collegiate athletes can say they are the top player in their division.

Former Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer player Kylee Hanavan can lay claim to that title after being selected the Division II national player of the year, Daktronics Midwest Region player of the year and the RMAC Player of the year. She was also an 8-time RMAC player of the week during her 3-year career.

Hanavan, who played for the Cougar women’s soccer program in 2003, finished her collegiate career as the top Division II women’s soccer player in the nation after leading Metro State University to the national title with a 1-0 win over Grand Valley State 1-0. It was the second national championship Hanavan and Metro State has won in the past three years.

“This year’s national championship was something we seniors had talked about and wanted all year long,” Hanavan said. “We were such a young team not knowing if we could accomplish a national championship, but as a senior I, and the whole team, was going to try our hardest to get there. When we actually won it, it was so unreal because it seemed impossible to get one let alone two. It is an indescribable feeling.”

The 5-foot-6 forward also set many Roadrunner records. She leaves Metro State as the all-time career leader in points (206), goals (80) and assists (46). This past season, she led the conference with 66 points, 23 goals and 20 assists. The 20 assists is a Metro State single-season assist record.

“I don’t think someone could have asked for more to have achieved so much,” she said. “I went in with the mentality to play as hard as I could as an individual and as a team and all the [honors] that come along don’t hurt. It is a great honor. I owe a lot to all who have made me a better player, especially Danny Sanchez (Metro State Head Coach).

“Individually, I have set goals, assists, game winning goals, and total points records, but I must say I could not have done it without my team and my coaching staff.”

Hanavan possessed those same soccer skills while at WNCC, where she scored 22 goals to help the Cougar women to a 19-1 record in its first year of competition. That Cougar team won 19 straight games and came within one win of making the national tournament.

In fact, her 22 goals stood as the most scored until this year when Bre Perkes broke the record with 26 goals this season.

“I remember what a great team we had, and I think Rick Carpenter and Tom Townsend pushed us to the limit which made us so great,” she said. “WNCC has taught me, no matter what you think might happen, to play to your full potential because in the end something great might happen.”

With all the accomplishments and accolades Hanavan has earned in her soccer playing days, she listed five that she will carry with her for years to come.

“Number one is winning two national championships and I think those are self explanatory,” she said. “It is the best because I had two of the best teams and teammates behind me in both victories.”

The rest of the Hanavan’s top five soccer moments include playing with her sister, Megan, two different times because “I look up to her and think she has made me as strong and dedicated as I am now.”

Three through five memories include WNCC and high school highlights. “Number three is force marking with Rick Carpenter at WNCC because you can really see how mean and aggressive girls can get. Plus we loved just taking people out and that gave us the chance,” she said. “Number four was in my first high school soccer game and we got to run out when our names were called and half way to the middle of the field, I fell straight on my butt in front of everyone. This is in my top five because I think along the way people need to learn and know they can have fun.”

Number five, Hanavan said, is for all the doubters who thought she wasn’t talented. “In all my years of soccer, my fifth memory is being able to prove everyone wrong who had ever doubted or looked down upon me,” she said. “I can say I have made something of myself and my high school and two college programs I have played for.”

From what Hanavan has all accomplished in her many years of playing soccer, younger girls now have someone to look up to. She said that attending a junior college first was probably the best thing that she ever did.

“I think in order to be successful, especially in a sport like soccer, you have to be willing to give your heart out to the program,” she said. “That is what I have done for both programs and I would not change anything for the world. Some people say junior college is not a place to go, but I think it is a place to start and grow as an individual until something else great comes along.”