WNCC men get offensive, blow past NJC 7-1

                STERLING, Colo. – Jose Netto and Baboucarr Sarr each scored two goals and the Western Nebraska Community College picked up a 7-1 Region IX win over Northeastern Junior College in a contest where 25 mph winds played a role in the decision.

                The win, however, was huge for the Cougars as they are still alive for a possible first-round home playoff contest as they move to 2-6 on the season, just two games behind Northwest Wyoming and Western Wyoming Community College, who each have four wins in conference play.

                The Cougars have just two regional contests left, beginning Saturday against defending Region IX champion Otero Junior College at noon followed by the team’s final regular season contest on Oct. 15. Both are home contests at the Landers Soccer Complex.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said this was a much needed win for his squad.

                “We played pretty good. We didn’t score a lot in the first half while we were against the wind,” Rasnic said. “So, we made some adjustments at halftime where I put five midfielders in. We started playing more on the ground, getting behind their defenders.”

                WNCC wasted little time in taking control as Seedy Ali-Sarr opened the scoring in the third minute as he took a corner kick from Manolo Garcia-Oronez and put the ball in the back of the net. The Cougars went up 2-0 in the 22^nd minute as Jose Netto scored off an assist from Baboucarr Sarr.

                NJC’s goal in the 38^th minute was an own goal for a 2-1 halftime lead.

                The Cougars opened the scoring in the second half with five goals. Netto got things started just two minutes into the contest, netting his second goal off an assist from Adhemar Lino. Baboucarr Sarr scored back-to-back goals to put the Cougars up 5-1. His first goal came in the 10^th minute off an assist from Christian Coronado, while his second goal game in the 67^th minute.

                Erwin Sanchez scored the team’s seventh goal off an assist from Netto and Kyle Gonzalez, while the final goal came from the foot of Jacob Santos off an assist from Gonzalez.

                WNCC outshot the Plainsmen 19-4, including 12 shots on frame. Joey Rasnic started in goal for the Cougars, while Jesus Alvarado was in net the second half. Each goalkeeper had one save.

                Rasnic said that everyone played in the match, which helped save the teams’ legs for the big regional contest on Saturday.

                “What was important today is that every single player got into the game and played at least 20 minutes,” he said. “That helped us a lot. Saturday’s contest will be a tough game.”

                Also on Saturday, AYSO players that wear their uniforms can get into the contest for free.

WNCC volleyball team wins Ozfest Invite

LIBERAL, Kan. – Western Nebraska Community College’s Danika Youngblood earned MVP honors and the Cougar volleyball team captured the championship of the Ozfest Invitational Saturday in Liberal, Kan.

The top-ranked Cougars captured two more sweeps in going to 24-0 on the season. The Cougars opened the day with a 25-20, 25-13, 25-15 win over No. 17 Missouri State-West Plains. They then faced Seward County Community for the championship, dropping the host team 25-15, 26-24, 25-15.

In the championship match, the Cougars trailed 22-16 in the second set and came back to win the set 26-24. Seward had set point but couldn’t get the deciding point. WNCC has now won 49 straight sets. The last time they have dropped a set was against College of Southern Idaho back on Sept. 3.

Against MSU-West Plains, Debora Araujo ahd 16 digs, 13 kills and two aces, while Youngblood had nine kills. Also for the Cougars, Megan Johnson had seven kills and two aces; Fernanda Goncalves had nine digs, three blocks, three aces and 31 set assists; and Alex Rivera had 15 digs.

In the championship match, Youngblood had 13 kills and 10 digs; Araujo had 15 kills, 11 digs and two aces; Lais Soares had seven kills; Johnson had five kills, two blocks and two aces; Jodi Huddleston had four kills; Dani Grace had 10 digs; Goncalves had 43 set assists and two blocks; and Rivera had 15 digs and three aces.

Besides Youngblood being named the tourney MVP, Araujo and Goncalves each made the all-tournament team.

WNCC women top Cloud County 4-3

               Kristi Blicharz tallied two goals and the Western Nebraska Community College women's soccer team recorded a huge victory over Cloud County Community College in topping the Thunderbirds 4-3 in action Tuesday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.
               Ariana Herrera, who netted the Cougars fourth goal, said this was a huge win for the team. It was the team's second to last regular season match.
               "This win is pretty huge because we have been struggling a little bit here and there," the freshman from Grand Junction, Colo., said. "This is a good win for us. It really boosts our confidence."
               What really helped in setting the tempo of the contest was the Cougars quick offensive threat. Herrera said it helped to get on the scoreboard first.
               "it was really important to put up those early goals because it helped us control the game better," Herrera said. "It helped us play our game and not theirs."
               It didn't take long for the Cougars to score. Just five minutes into the contest, Blicharz outraced a Cloud County to the ball and then went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and firmly planted the ball in the back of the net.
               Cloud County came back to knot the score at the 33rd minute as Kelly To sent a shot into the net for a 1-1 tie.
               The contest was tied just briefly as Breanna Smith delivered a nice pass to Bridget Stanton who found the back of the net in the 30th minute for a 2-1 lead. The contest would go into halftime tied at 2-2 after To tied the contest in the 23 minute.
               Herrera said that Coach Todd Rasnic told them to continue playing strong at intermission.
               "He just told us to keep up our work rate," she said. "He told us to be more intense and go to the ball and play our game."
               WNCC came out in the second half and quickly took control of the contest. Blicharz scored her second goal of the match by taking a pass from Leticia Lopes and went one-on-one with the goalkeeper for the score in the 42nd minutes.
               The Cougars made it 4-2 in the 18th minute as Herrera delivered a strike into the net off an assist from Bailey Wenz. That goal proved to be the winner as the Thunderbirds scored another goal in the 14th minute as Rylee Bruhn scored. Cloud County almost tied the game three minutes later after a shot hit both sides of the goal, but bounced out.
               After that, WNCC took control and hung on for the victory. The Cougars outshot the Thunderbirds 16-12. Wenz started in goal for the Cougars and recorded three saves while giving up two goals. Tiffany Snethen was in net in the second half, allowing a goal and getting two saves.
               Herrera said the team played good enough to win on defense.
               "We did ok on defense. We could have played a lot better at times, but we held it together and played as a team," she said. "i am just proud of my team. We kept up with it and never gave up. We fought to the very end."
               WNCC will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 15 when they face Western Wyoming Community College at 11 a.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex in the team's final regular season contest.
               Herrera said they are going to work hard to stay in condition during the long layoff between games.
               "We are going to keep working hard at practice, keep our work rate up," she said. "We are going to work on our touches, the basics, and keep the speed of the game up high."

WNCC men fall to Cloud County 2-0

The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team couldn't get their offense untracked against a talented Cloud County Community College team in falling to the Thunderbirds 2-0 in action Tuesday at the Landers Soccer Complex.
               The Cougar men were outshot 13-6 in the contest and had just two shots in the second half in falling to the Concordia, Kan., team.
               "I thought we played OK. We really, through the middle and the final third of the field, didn't get a lot going today," WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. "We didn't adjust to the style of defense they were playing so we found ourselves in a bad situation trying to get behind their backs.
               "We made some adjustments at halftime and thought we might get some more success using a different style of attack, but unfortunately we weren't able to get some goals in. It is a 1-0 game really because we gave them the second goal."
               Cloud County's Luke Huggett scored both goals for the Thunderbirds. the first came with 25 minutes left in the first half as Huggett took a pass from Pedro Miranda for the first half goal. The Cougars held their own the rest of the way, trailing 1-0 at intermission.
               WNCC had a prime scoring opportunity in the second half as the Cougars had their first shot of the half with 21 minutes off a free kick, but it went high. The Cougars, however, kept Cloud County in check, giving them a chance to tie the contest. That was all erased with 8:55 to play when Huggett scored his second goal to put the Thunderbirds up 2-0.
               "Overall I thought the guys played with more intensity and heart today and that is what I was looking for," Rasnic said. "I thought they showed determination today and at moments they showed quite a bit of skill. We are still in a process of putting it all together. We have a couple more games to put it all together and hopefully we will get to a point where we can play with these teams. Cloud County is a solid team. They are ranked nationally."
               Joey Rasnic started in net for the Cougars, giving up a goal and making three saves. Jesus Alvarado went the second half in goal, allowing a goal and making five saves.
               WNCC will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Sterling, Colo., to face Northeastern Junior College in a Region IX contest at 2 p.m. The contest can be heard live on the Internet at www.ihigh.com/bigtimesmalltown or at sports.wncc.net.

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.