WNCC men drop NJC 9-0, Cougar women fall to Hutchinson

It was different storylines for the Western Nebraska Community College men's and women's soccer teams on Friday at the Landers Soccer Complex.

               The Cougar women were out shot 23-8 in falling to Hutchinson Community College 9-0. The Cougar men, on the other hand, played one of its best contests of the season in registering a 4-0 win over Northeastern Junior College in a Region IX contest.

               "Overall, I think this was the best team performance of the year," WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said about the men picking up their first Region IX win of the season. "It might not of been the best game of soccer, but it was the best team effort that we have had all season. We got breaks today and we got some good opportunities. We kind of created our own opportunities in front of the goal and did a good job of finishing."

               The Cougars got on the scoreboard first as Luis Tapia took a pass from Jacob Santos and planted it firmly into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. That was the only score of the contest, even though the Cougars out shot the Plainsmen 11-1 in the first half.

               The second half saw WNCC open up the contest with three goals. Kyle Gonzales opened up the half with a goal just 6:40 into the contest after taking a pass from Manolo Garcia-Oronoz. WNCC scored against with 15:37 to play as Baboucarr Sarr scored off another assist from Santos.

               The final score came with about 40 minutes to play as Adhemar Lino scored off an assist from Darwin Carranza for the final margin.

               "Overall today we played pretty well," Rasnic said. "Obviously there is areas we will continue to work on. But at least we took a step in the right direction."

               The Cougar women had a tough time cracking the defense of a strong Hutchinson defense. The Cougar women were outshot 10-3 in the first half and 23-8 overall. The women, however, were still in the contest at intermission, trailing just 3-0.

               The Blue Dragons' first half goals came from Madison Joyce just 55 seconds into the contest. The second goal, came just seven minutes into the contest as Pearl Slattery took a header off a corner kick. The last goal came with 15 left in the half as Sydney Armstrong scored her third goal of the season.

               Hutchison  added six more goals in the second half. The first came nine minutes into the second half as Mel Hetherington scored her 13th goal of the season off Robinson's second assist of the game.

               Two minutes later, the Blue Dragons scored again as Slattery scored on a header for a 5-0 lead. Madison Joyce and Robinson each had an unassisted goal for a 7-0 lead.

               The final two Hutchinson goals came from Polly New just 16 minutes into the contest and the final goal came 22 minutes into the half on a Shelbi Otte goal off an assist from Slattery.

               The Cougar women had their chances to score not one, but two or three goals, but misfired on several opportunities. Just 13 minutes gone in the second half, Kristi Blicharz misfired high on a shot. WNCC's Bridget Stanton had a good shot with 16 minutes to play but missed.

               Rasnic said that the women's team has been playing some of the top teams in the nation recently and they have been finding scoring opportunities to a minimal.

               "They have been playing some of the top teams in the nation in their last two games and that can be a point of frustration for players when we are in a process of rebuilding with a lot of freshmen," Rasnic said. "We, quite frankly, have been outmatched in the last two contests. The response is we have to get into games that we are competitive in and those we must win. I think we are in the right direction."

               Both WNCC teams will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to face Northwest (Wyo.) College in Powell, Wyo. The two squads won't be back home until Aug. 28 when they host Laramie County Community College.

WNCC volleyball defeats Casper College in three

The No. 1 ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team had no trouble in getting past Casper College Tuesday night in Casper as the Cougars moved to 10-0 on the season with a 25-18, 25-14, 25-11 win.
               WNCC coach Giovana Melo was pleased with how they played for having a week off from competition.
               "We played pretty well," she said. "We started a little slow and made a lot of errors in the beginning, but we just got in the groove and did a lot better as the game went a long."
               Melo said that Casper has a good team, but her team just fought hard for every point.
               "I am not surprised by the scores because I know we have been working pretty hard and if we continue to do the things that we have been working on, we can be a pretty good team," she said. "We were playing a pretty good Casper team. it was a good battle and we had a lot of long rallies. The scores don't show how competitive it was. Casper put up a good fight with us even though the scores do not show that."
               The Cougars used a balanced lineup in getting the win as Debora Araujo finished with nine kills and nine digs, while Lais Soares had eight kills and seven blocks.
               Also for the Cougars, Jodi Huddleston finished with seven kills and four blocks; Danika Youngblood had seven kills, four blocks and 13 digs; Fernanda Goncalves had 30 set assists and seven digs; Megan Johnson had five blocks, and Alex Rivera had eight digs.
               WNCC, 10-0, will have a couple days to get ready for the Pizza Hut Classic in Sterling, Colo., on Friday and Saturday. The Cougars will face Hutchinson Community College at 2 p.m. and Trinidad State on 6 p.m. on Friday followed by Otero Junior College and Dodge City Community College on Saturday.
               WNCC will then come home on Monday to face Iowa Western Community College on Monday as they present a special honor to Nebraska's Governor Dave Heineman, who is slated to attend the match.

WNCC soccer teams fall to LCCC

 

               CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's and women's soccer team had a rough go in their matches with Laramie County Community College in cold, wet and foggy weather in Cheyenne, Wyo., Wednesday afternoon.

               The Cougar men hung with the Golden Eagles but fell 4-1 in Region IX conference action. The Cougar women played tough for the first half against the No. 9 team in the nation before falling 8-0.

               The men had a couple unfortunate goals, including two penalty kicks, one of each in the first and second half.

               "Quite honestly, we played a good game. We just didn't execute inside our opponents' half of the field and finish some balls," WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said about his men's team performance. "The surface was also wet which doesn't bode well with our style of play. We play a lot of balls up and over the top and with this wet surface, they were getting to the keeper right away."

               The Cougar men got down early as the Golden Eagles scored with a little over 14 minutes left in the half on a goal by Spencer Gray. Three minutes later, LCCC struck again on a shot by Landon Horst for a 2-0 lead. LCCC went up 3-0 at halftime after Dino Soto scored on a penalty kick with 4:05 left.

               WNCC came out fired up in the second half, getting a number of scoring opportunities and finally finding the net with 37 minutes left to play as Jose Netto connected on his ninth goal of the season off an assist from Erwin Sanchez.

               WNCC couldn't cut the deficit any further as Soto connected on another penalty kick with 2:42 left for the final margins.

               The Cougars outshot Laramie County 10-9. Jesus Alvarado started in goal for WNCC and had two saves and three goals against him, while Joey Rasnic played the second half, giving up one goal and making six saves.

               Coach Rasnic said the next time they face LCCC will be Sept. 28 at their place and he is looking for a different team to come out on the field.

               "We certainly have the players to match up man to man and to be in the next contest," he said. "it was a little disheartening. I thought we fought hard. We just have to rebound back. We can blame games on a lot of stuff; two penalty kicks didn't help us. We just need to finish our opportunities and that is the key; we have to start, when we get in good space to score, to finish the shot to score."

               The women competed well against the Golden Eagles for the opening 45 minutes. LCCC struck early to grab a 2-0 lead as Vanessa Alexander scored just six minutes into the contest. The Golden Eagles went up 2-0 with 33 minutes left in the half on a goal by Shino Kunisawa. After that, the Cougar defense shut down the LCCC scoring attack to go into intermission trailing by two goals.

               The second half saw the Golden Eagles scoring four goals in a 14 minute period to open up the contest. Kunisawa netted the hat trick by scoring the first two goals of the half, the first just 30 seconds into the half and the second one with 33 minutes to play. Two minutes later, Monica Lubin scored back-to-back goals to put LCCC up 6-0.

               The Golden Eagles went up 7-0 with 26 minutes left in the match on a goal by Zahimara Fantauzzi before netting their final goal with a minute left by Jezmine Lora-Ruiz.

               WNCC had a few scoring changes to avoid the shutout, but couldn't get anything past the Golden Eagles' goal keepers Aissa Pedraza-Lopez and Marissa Schultz. Bailey Wenz was in net for the Cougars and made 11 saves.

               WNCC will be back in action at home on Friday in a doubleheader. The Cougar women, 2-2, will host Hutchinson Community College at 1 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex, while the Cougar men, 3-3-1, will host Northeastern Junior College at 3:30 in a Region IX Conference contest.

WNCC men split soccer matches over the weekend

                The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team split a pair of matches this weekend in southern Colorado.

                The Cougars dropped a Region IX conference contest to Otero Junior College 5-1 on Saturday before bouncing back to drop Lamar Community College 9-0 on Sunday.

                The men found the going tough against Otero, the defending Region IX champions, on Saturday. The Rattlers scored four first-half goals to hold a 4-0 lead at intermission. Both squads managed a goal apiece in the second half.

                WNCC’s goal came from Jose Netto off an assist from Baboucarr Sarr. Otero’s Cantu Palombo had three goals and an assist in the match. Also scoring goals for Otero were Corey Cortez and Jack Gonzales.

                Joey Rasnic and Jesus Alvarado were in net for the Cougars. Rasnic had four saves and gave up four goals, while Alvarado had one save and gave up one goal.

                The Cougars rebounded nicely on Sunday against Lamar Community College, a first year program. WNCC ran out to a 7-0 lead at halftime and coasted to their third win of the season.

                Sarr led the team offensively with two goals and an assist. Also capturing goals included Juan Carlos Fernandez, Edrissa Mendy, Netto, Jacob Santos, Cody Thompson, Christian Coronado, and Kyle Gonzales.

                Five Cougars collected assists including Netto, Sarr, Mendy, Ricardo Marropuia, and Mark Hubbard.

                Rasnic and Alvarado shared time in net. Rasnic made three saves in the first half, while Alvarado had one save in the second half.

                WNCC, 3-2-1, will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Cheyenne, Wyo., to face Laramie County College in a Region IX contest. The men start at 1:30 p.m. and the women play at 4 p.m. Both Cougar teams will then be home on Friday. The women will face Hutchinson Community College at 1 p.m. followed by the men playing Region IX opponent Northeastern Junior College at 3:30 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex.

WNCC softball team goes 2-1 at Adams State, prepare for home fall Classic this weekend

                ALAMOSA, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College softball team opened the fall season with a 2-1 record at the Adams State Invite in Alamosa, Colo., on Saturday. The competition was a good tune up for this weekend’s WNCC Fall Cougar Classic on Saturday and Sunday at Volunteer Field in Scottsbluff.

                In the Adams State Invite, WNCC threw three different pitchers in the contests. The Cougars defeated Luna Community College 16-6 behind Aria Agle performance in the circle and topped Adams State 10-3 behind the strong-armed throwing of freshman Bianca Duran. The Cougars only defeat came to New Mexico Highlands 7-5 as Amanda Jones was the hard-luck pitcher.

                Against Luna, the Cougars pounded out 19 hits, including six doubles. Sarah Hawryluk paced the team with a 3-for-3 performance as she scored three times, while Danielle Hearn went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. Also collecting three hits was Mariah Shepherd with a 3-for-4 game with three RBIs and a double.

                Collecting two hits each for the Cougars were Duran and Brandi Percival. Duran went 2-for-4 with a run scored, RBI and a double.

                Agle, a sophomore, went five innings in allowing seven hits, six runs, walking four and striking out six.

                In the win against Adams State, the Cougars scored four times in the sixth inning to open up a tight contest for the victory. WNCC pounded out 10 hits in the win as Hearn led the way with a 4-for-5 contest with two runs scored and a double.

                Duran was the only other Cougar collect multiple hits with two. Duran also had a double and run scored. Sasha Duran-Fong had the only other extra base hit with a triple in the third that scored three runs.

                Duran picked up the win by shutting down the Adams State hitters, going seven innings in allowing just five hits and three runs. Duran struck out one and walked one.

                In the lone loss over the weekend, WNCC held a 5-0 lead through three innings before allowing New Mexico Highlands score three runs each in the fifth and sixth innings, and a single run in the fourth for the victory. WNCC scored all five runs in the second inning on two outs as they got singles by Duran and Haley Paxton.

                Duran led the way for the Cougars from the plate with a 3-for-4 game with a RBI. Not other player had more than a single in the game.

                Jones suffered the loss in going 5 2/3 innings in allowing seven hits, seven runs, and walking three and striking out three.

                The three games are a good warm up for this weekend’s Cougar Fall Classic that begins Saturday and Sunday that brings five different colleges to the area. Competing teams include WNCC, Northeastern Junior College, Chadron State, North Platte Community College, Air Force Academy, and the University of Wyoming.

                WNCC will play two games Saturday at 9:30 a.m. against Northeastern Junior College and 8 p.m. against the University of Wyoming. The Cougars’ contests on Sunday include an 8 a.m. match up with Air Force and then a 4:45 game with Chadron State.

Complete Fall Cougar Schedule

Saturday, Sept. 17

9:30 – Northeastern JC and WNCC, 11:15 a.m. – Chadron State and Northeastern Colorado, 1 p.m. – North Platte and Chadron State, 2:45 p.m. – Wyoming and North Platte, 4:30 p.m. – Air Force and Wyoming, 6:15 p.m. – North Platte and Air Force, and 8 p.m. – WNCC and Wyoming.

Sunday, Sept. 18

8 a.m. – Air Force and WNCC, 9:45 a.m. – Chadron State and Air Force, 11:30 a.m. – Wyoming and Chadron State, 1:15 p.m. – Air Force and Northeastern Colorado, 3 p.m. – Northeastern Colorado and Wyoming; and 4:45 p.m. – WNCC and Chadron State.

WNCC fall to Northwest in a shootout 7-5

                 Jose Netto’s record-setting, four goal performance wasn’t enough for the Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team to capture a win Wednesday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.

                Northwest (Wyo.) College scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to escape with a 7-5 win over the Cougars in a Region IX conference match.

                Netto’s four goals broke the school record for most goals in a match. The previous best was three that was previously held by Sergio Dominguez in 2003 and Marcel Sales last season.

                WNCC men’s coach Todd Rasnic said that Netto had a fabulous day.

“Netto was on fire today,” he said. “He did a great job but unfortunately the final result was still a loss. We have to figure out way when we score this many goals in a game to finish it off and win it. That is the bottom line.”

Nettom who know has six goals on he season, was unstoppable early on. Netto hit for the hat trick in the first half with three goals, scoring the first 26 minutes into the contest off a direct kick. The sophomore from Brazil scored his second goal three minutes later and then netted his third goal two minutes later on a penalty kick.

                Netto broke the record just five minutes into the second half as he took a pass from Edwin Sanchez and rifled a fastball from about 25 feet out into the back of the net. That record-setting goal gave the Cougars their first lead of the contest at 5-4.

                Up until that point, Northwest’s Leonardo Mederios was scoring at will alongside Netto. The Trapper sophomore scored the first Northwest’s first three goals. The first goal came on a penalty kick at the 8:25 mark. Mederios then put the Trappers up 2-0 with a coal at the 22-minute mark. That is when Netto scored his first goal, but it didn’t last long as Mederios scored his hat trick by taking a pass from Dean Johnson and putting the header into the back of the net.

                WNCC tied the contest at 3-3 on Netto’s penalty kick with 30:58 to go in the first half, but it was shortlived as Johnson scored the go-ahead goal with 32:50 to play after taking a pass from Adrien Elicerio.

                The Cougars tied the contest heading into halftime as Baboucarr Sarr delivered a pass to Sanchez, who firmly planted it into the back of the net.

                WNCC controlled most of the second half and were in prime position to register the win after Netto put in the go-ahead goal five minutes into the contest. Northwest, however, had other ideas scoring three goals in the final 10 minutes. The Trappers tied the contest as WNCC accidently kicked the ball into their own net with 34:50 to play. Less than a minute later, Matheus Santos took a pass from Alan Da Costa and banked a shot in off the cross bar for the 6-5 lead.

                WNCC still had live in them to get the tying goal, but Cesar Canales scored an insurance goal from a pass from Legofi Crawford for the 7-5 win.

                Both teams competed evenly on the field. Northwest held a 12-10 shot advantage at halftime and finished the contest topping the Cougars 21-16 in shots. Northwest also had four corner kicks compared to just two for WNCC.

                Rasnic said that he warned the team that this team can score. Last season the teams combined for 10 goals.

                “We broke down in the second half from our game plan and we started to do things that were out of character from our offense,” Rasnic said. “We stopped doing the hard work to develop an attacking play and when you do that, you start making bad decisions. Once we started making bad decisions in the final third [of the field], it resulted in not much threat to them.

“We let them hang around in the game and they possessed the ball a little bit. One of their late goals was off my own defender and another goal came off the crossbar. That is a problem, but we will get better, but it understanding that if you continue giving up the amount of goals that we are a giving up, sooner or later you don’t get to work yourself out of a hole.”

WNCC, 2-1-1, will next be in action this weekend when they face Region IX opponent Otero Junior College at La Junta, Colo., on Saturday followed by a contest with Lamar Community College on Sunday.

Region IX Standings

Team                                 Region IX                 Overall

LCCC                                  1-0-0                          3-0-1

Otero JC                           1-0-1                          2-1-1

W. Wyoming                  2-1-0                          2-1-0

NW Wyoming                1-1-1                          2-1-1

W. Nebraska                  0-1-0                          2-1-1

NE Colorado                   0-2-0                          1-4-0

Wednesday’s Scores

NW Wyoming 7, WNCC 5

W. Wyoming 3, NE Colorado 1