WNCC soccer teams fall to Trinidad State

                 [Oct. 19, 2012] The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams played well, but couldn’t muster enough goals to pick up the wins against Trinidad State Junior College Friday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.

                The Cougar women scored its first goal since Sept. 29, but it wasn’t enough as Trinidad State won the contest 2-1. On the men’s side, the Cougar men fell to the Trojans 3-1.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said what pleased him about the women’s contest was his team outshot the Trojans, but just couldn’t find the back of the net but once.

                “We had our good moments but the same thing as all year we have struggled with multiple injuries and we did organize well,” Rasnic, who was celebrating his birthday on Friday, said. “We moved the ball well but the same struggle all year, we just can’t finish things. The women managed to get a goal in but we gave up a goal on a corner kick that ended up being the winning goal and we have struggled on defending corners.”

                The same held true for the men, they just couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net.

                “We lost the midfield in the first half, but we came back strong in the second half, changing positions around and the system a little bit,” Rasnic said. “We tightened up the middle and a lot a lot better penetration in the second half. But it was the same thing as the women; we are not finishing the ball well.”

                The Cougar women dominated the Trojans with shots in the first half with a total of 11 shots, but they just couldn’t get one into the net. The Cougars best change for a goal came with under a minute to play as a sliding attempt at goal failed to go in. Trinidad, in transition, went down the field and scored the go-ahead goal with just 35.3 seconds to play in the half off a shot by Zanique Celestin.

                WNCC wasted little time to knot the score. Just 46 seconds into the second half, Kourtney Mitchell took a pass from Ari Herrera and rocketed a fastball into the back of the net to tie things at 1-1. The Cougars had a couple of other chances to take the lead, but the ball either went high or wide.

                In the meantime, Trinidad went ahead with 24:26 to play as Karlee Ann Brundage scored off a corner kick from Celestin to put the Trojans up 2-1. WNCC had a good shot to tie the game with six minutes to play, but a Herrera shot went high.

                WNCC outshot Trinidad 17-6 and Patty Sylvester had four saves in net. Trinidad State controlled the corner kicks 5-1.

                The men’s game was very similar to the women’s contest. The first half was an evenly played contest. Trinidad struck first as Adrian Macias-Guttierrez took a pass from Justin Young in the 25^th minute for the early 1-0 lead. It took WNCC just two minutes to knot the score as Fernando Gutierrez took a pass from Adhemar Lino for the tying score and that is where it stayed until the second half.

                Both teams had about the same amount of shot attempts with the only difference is the Trojans put two in the back of the net. Trinidad’s first goal came in the 23^rd minutes as Miguel Garcia scored. Trinidad’s second goal came with just two minutes to go as Garcia scored again, this time off an assist from Marian Kachelmyer for the 3-1 win.

                Trinidad State outshot WNCC 13-11 and had one more corner kick then the Cougars at 5-4. Joey Rasnic had eight saves in net for the Cougars.

                Both WNCC teams will be back in action Saturday in their final home game of the season against Otero Junior College. The men kick off the day at noon followed by the women at 2 p.m. The Otero women suffered their first loss of the season, falling to Laramie County Community College 3-1 on Friday. The Otero men also fell 3-0 to LCCC on Friday.

WNCC volleyball cruises past McCook

                [Oct. 16, 3012] MCCOOK -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team received double-digit kills from Danika Youngblood and Kat Agson as the Cougars swept past McCook Community College 25-13, 25-9, 25-10 on Tuesday night in McCook.

                The second-ranked Cougars won their 25th straight match and their 31st win of the season. The team also extended their set-winning streak to 45 straight sets won.

                Tuesday's win also saw everyone contribute in some fashion. Gering's Morgan Broussard and Youngblood were the only Cougars to have a double-double. Broussard finished with 19 set assists and 12 digs. Broussard also served up four aces in the win. Youngblood added 12 digs to her 12 kills.

                Agson pounded home 10 kills and had two blocks in the win, while Allora Tanner ahd seven kills and two blocks. Also for the Cougars, Priscila Mendes had four kills and two blocks; Megan Johnson had three kills, five blocks, three set assists, and four digs; Taylor VanderWerff had three kills and three blocks; Lyndsay Wehkamp had thee kills; Lauren Knox had three digs; Luiza Martins had 16 set assists and two aces; and Alex Rivera had 15 digs.

                WNCC, 31-2, will next be in action Friday when they host Northeastern Junior College in Think Pink night. Individuals are asked to wear pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The Cougars will then have their last home match of the year on Saturday against Casper College, where they will honor the sophomores.

WNCC volleyball runs past Trinidad

                [Oct. 13, 2012] TRINIDAD, Colo. -- The second-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team continued to breeze along in south sub-region play sweeping past Trinidad State Junior College 26-24, 25-12, 25-20 Saturday afternoon in Trinidad, Colo.

                The win was the Cougars 24th straight victory and it was the team's 30th win of the season. On top of that, the Cougars have now won 42 straight sets.

                The Cougars, however, came close in dropping the first set but battled back to get the first-set win 26-24. Assistant coach Fatima Balza said they were down 16-11 at one time and trailed 21-19 before tying the game at 22-22. A big key in the win was a big scoring run by freshman Yoro Tovar that helped spark the team.

                After that, the Cougars finished off the Trojans with the 25-12 and 25-20 wins.

                Priscila Mendes led the Cougars with a double-double of 10 points and 10 digs. Tovar and Danika Youngblood each tallied nine kills. Tovar also had four blocks, while Youngblood had 11 digs.

                Also for the Cougars, Morgan Broussard tallied two kills, two blocks, nine digs, and 41 set assists; Kat Agson had six kills and three blocks; Megan Johnson had five kills; Allora Tanner had four kills; Lauren Knox had four digs; Alex Rivera had 20 digs; and Tasha Meyer had five digs.

                The Cougars will be back on the road Tuesday at they travel to McCook Community College before returning home for their final home matches of the year on Friday against Northeastern Junior College and Saturday against Casper College.

WNCC soccer teams battle Northwest College

[Oct. 13, 2012]

                The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team made a strong finish to force overtime, but the Cougar men came up short against Northwest College, falling 3-2 Saturday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.

                The Cougar women also played tough, but once again had trouble finding the back of the net in falling to Northwest College 3-0 in action Saturday.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said both teams are hampered with injuries. Still, both teams played well in the second halves.

                "We were banged up in the men's game. We had a couple of our starting defenders out and we had to move Jacob [Santos] into the back to play defender. I have been looking at my bench right know and we are beat up with ankles and knees and pulled groins," Rasnic said. "The good news is that they are starting to get a little bit consistency in their play and they are starting to get better in the offensive third of the field. We are going to keep playing and see how the playoffs go. We get an automatic berth in the playoffs and hopefully we get up against a team that we can battle with."

                The WNCC men played much better in the second half than the first. In the opening 45 minutes, Northwest scored twice. The first goal was made by Gage Woodward, who went one-on-one with WNCC goal keeper Joey Rasnic, made a move and was wide open for an easy score in the 29th minute.

                Northwest's second goal came eight minutes later as Kris Mull scored off an assist from Woodward for the 2-0 halftime lead.

                WNCC sliced the lead in half with 20 minutes to play in the match as Daniel Agnew lofted shot from 45-feet out that looped into the net. Rasnic said that Agnew saw the goal keeper off line and hit the long shot for the goal.

                Two minutes later, though, Northwest went up 3-1 after James McMorrow scored off two fabulous saves from Joey Rasnic, but the third shot went in.

                The Cougars got to within on at 3-2 with 4:19 to play as Jacob Santos intercepted a pass and went straight to the hit and knocked the ball into the net for the score. WNCC had a couple other prime scoring chances to tie the game, but couldn't get a good kick on the ball.

                Northwest outshot WNCC 28-7 and held the corner kick advantage 3-2. Joey Rasnic made 13 saves in net.

                The women's game was a tale of two halves. The Cougar women started off strong with two early shot attempts that just missed. After that, Northwest scored its first goal with 15 minutes gone. The Trappers went up 2-0 on a goal by Samantha Schneider for the halftime lead.

                The second half saw Northwest go up 3-0 just seven minutes into the half on a goal by Samiha Simao. After that, WNCC kept fighting to get a goal as they had plenty of prime scoring chances, but couldn't put the right touch on the ball.

                Northwest out shot WNCC 20-5 and held a 4-1 corner kick advantage. Patty Sylvester had eight saves in net for the Cougars.

                Both Cougar teams will be back in action at home next Friday and Saturday when they host Trinidad State Junior College and Otero Junior College in the regular season finales.

WNCC soccer teams go overtime against Western Wyoming

[Oct. 9, 2012]

                The Western Nebraska Community College and Western Wyoming Community College men's and women's soccer teams went overtime in both matches with the Cougar teams suffering opposite results.

                The Cougar women outshot the Mustangs 21-8 but neither team managed a goal during regulation and the two 10-minute overtime periods to finish the game in a 0-0 tie.

                The men's contest had a little bit more drama as both teams battled to a 2-2 tie after regulation. Western Wyoming then scored the winning goal with 14 seconds to play in the second overtime to win 3-2.

                Patty Sylvester, the women's goalkeeper, had a superb stint in net for the Cougars, registering four saves and made some outstanding saves to thwart some Mustang shot attempts. Sylvester said that the women played well except for finding the back of the net.

                "We put a big defensive game out there. We worked really hard and all our defense stayed strong. We fought to the end and tried to put as much pressure on them as we could," Sylvester said. " Once we get a goal, it will change the whole team dynamics. All of us are just waiting for that goal to make it so we can get another goal. it will help boost our confidence to know we can do it again."

                Western Wyoming controlled the shot count in the first half, out shooting the Cougars 4-1. After that, the dominance went to the Cougars as WNCC eight shots compared to just five for the Mustangs. The Cougars had a barrage of shots with under five minutes to play, but couldn't get the winning goal in.

                The first overtime period say the Cougars manage five shots, including a near miss with under five seconds to play that escaped the foot of Ashley Baker. The second overtime also saw the Cougars dominate with five shots compared to zero for Western Wyoming. The Cougars had two close shot attempts with under two minutes to play, but couldn't score.

                Sylvester said being in goal during an overtime period is nerve racking, but she stayed cool in net.

                "it so much pressure in there," teh freshman from Loveland, Colo., said. "I feel that if I miss and let a goal in that I let the team down. So, trying to just stay positive and stay focused while communicating with everybody  that a player is covered to making sure every one is working hard so I don't have all the pressure on myself."

                Sylvester said it is frustrating how the Cougars can't get a shot to go in the back of net. It seems like the net is cursed on the Cougars side.

                "We can work it all the way down to the box and pass it around before someone takes a shot and it sky rockets or goes wide, or we will keep passing it waiting for someone to take the shot," she said. "Anytime when someone takes the shot, we just can't seem to get it there."

                While the women had trouble finding the back of the net, the men didn't have that problem. The Western Wyoming men opened the scoring first, netting a goal just 13 minutes into the contest as Jarom Stuart scored off an assist from Bernard Manuel. The score stayed that way through halftime.

                WNCC finally tied the game in the 35th minute of the second half as Jacob Santos sent a pass to Edwin Contreras, who skipped a shot into the back of the net from about 30 yards out.

                The Mustangs came back to grab a 2-1 lead as Nathan Cutler scored off an assist from Jared Jess in the 27th minute. WNCC tied the contest in the final minutes as JC Fernandez scored off an assist from Contreras with 2:22 left in regulation. WNCC had one good shot to win the contest late, but the game went into overtime.

                In the first overtime period, Western Wyoming had three good attempts with two going high. The Mustangs best change to score came with 30 seconds to play as Jess just missed. WNCC also had its chances to score as Thomas Wright missed a shot with 4:48 to go and the Cougars had another shot the missed with three minutes to go.

                The Cougars outplayed the Mustangs in the second overtime period. WNCC had three shot opportunities to win the game, while the Mustangs had two. The Mustangs final shot, with 14.1 seconds to play, proved to be the game winner as Taylor Egbert took a pass from DJ Searcy and found the back of the net as the Mustang players stormed the field and dogpiled Egbert for nailing the gamewinner.

                WNCC had 19 shots with six on frame while Western Wyoming had 13 shots with three on frame. Joey Rasnic had seven saves in net for the Cougars.

                The Cougars will be back on the field at Landers Soccer Complex on Saturday when they host Northwest Wyoming. The women kick things off at noon with the men to follow.

                Sylvester said the main goal for the women's team is to score and once that happens, then they can get more goals.

                "We just need to find the back of the net," she said. "We just need to move the ball around, keep the pressure high on the opponent, and the defense should be pretty strong. We have to make sure we stay connected and put the ball in the back of the net."

WNCC men's soccer trips NJC in double overtime

The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team out shot Northeastern Junior College 36-8 Wednesday afternoon, but needed an overtime goal by Daniel Agnew to capture a 2-1 win over the Plainsmen at the Landers Soccer Complex.

Agnew said while the team started slow, they never lost confidence despite the hefty shot advantage.

"This is a big win. We didn't start off the best, but we preceded to win it in the end," Agnew said. "It was really important to get that goal at the end. We just need to go on from this win and get a couple wins this weekend."

The number of shots the Cougars missed was not a good sign. The team knows they have to start capitalizing on those opportunities.

"Us attackers have to start scoring more goals but they will come," he said. "It was pretty physical out there, but all that matters is we came out with a win."

The match never should have went into overtime in the first place as the Cougars had an 11-3 shot advantage in the first period. Still, neither team could muster a goal. The second half saw two goals scored. The first goal game in the 27th minute as NJC knocked in a own goal to put WNCC up 1-0. Three minutes later, the Plainsmen would tie the contest as Colton Hale scored off an assist from Jacob Price.

With 20 minutes to play in regulation, WNCC had ample opportunities to put in the go-ahead goal, including two prime shots with under three minutes to play. The Cougars couldn't find the back of the net, sending the match into overtime.

In the first overtime period, WNCC managed four prime scoring chances but missed wide on the shots. That sent the teams into the second overtime and on the Cougars' first scoring change, Agnew made sure the ball was going into the net. The freshman from Ireland took a pass from Edward Contreras from just outside the box and rocketed what seemed to be a 100 mph fastball into the back of the net for the game winner.

Agnew praised the play of the defense for keeping the offense the game.

"The defense played well," he said. "We just need to start scoring more goals and get some positive results."

The Cougars not only controlled the shots, but they managed 10 corner kicks to NJC's two. Joey Rasnic also gathered in seven saves in net for the Cougars. NJC's goalkeeper Trevor Shepherd also had a good game in net, getting 17 saves. Shepherd made the biggest save with under a minute to play in the first overtime as he scrambled outside the box on teh sideline to thwart a prime Cougar scoring opportunity.

Agnew said they definitely have to put more shots in goal this weekend as they get ready to host Western Wyoming Community College and Northwest College in women's and men's doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. Friday's contest with WWCC starts at 1 p.m. for the women's contest, while Saturday's matches start at noon.

"This game was important to get a win in, but the next two games this weekend are important," he said.