The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team battled No. 7 Laramie County Community College tooth and nail in the first half, but then fell flat in the second half in falling to the Golden Eagles 2-0 in a Region IX conference match Wednesday at Landers Soccer Complex.

                WNCC sophomore Ana Caroline Lopes said they played well in the first half, but not the best in the second half.

                “In the first half we played very well,” she said. “We played as equals. They had few scoring changes and we defended well. We attacked very well “

                The first half was dominated by WNCC as the Cougars outshot LCCC 5-2. WNCC had a good chance to score in the first five minutes but couldn’t get the ball to go in. With 10 minutes gone on the clock, Ashley Ruiz had a good shot and that just missed.

                The best chance to score came with 18 minutes left as Andrea Jimenez took a long shot and it was on line to go into the goal, but at the last second it hit the south goal post and went back into play. That was Jimenez’ second good chance to score as three minutes earlier, she just missed again.

                The final opportunity came from Lopes, who had a free kick that sailed right to LCCC’s goalkeeper London Ewing. Neither team scored in the first as the teams settled for a 0-0 tie.

                The second half started with three straight free kicks, two from LCCC and one from WNCC and all the free kicks went off the mark.

                LCCC finally got on the scoreboard with 38:26 to play when Ainsley Basich scored off an assist from Mattiese Loreton for the 1-0 lead. LCCC went up 2-0 as Basich scored her second goal off an assist from Hanah Cornaby with 28:19 to play.

                Both teams had shots after that that wouldn’t go in.

                WNCC head coach Todd Rasnic said the women were in it, but they didn’t play a complete game to get the win.

                “The women just didn’t play a complete game,” he said. “Both teams got beat physically. We literally couldn’t win the 1v1 challenges on the field and I told both teams that if you win the 1v1 challenges, you win the game.  That is how it works.”

                WNCC outshot LCCC 10-9. LCCC had five shots on goal while WNCC had four shots on frame.

                LCCC had just one corner kick in the contest while the Cougars had zero corner kicks.

                Rasnic said they just didn’t show up, especially in the second half.

                “We just didn’t play well enough to win the game,” he said. “That is all you can say. We didn’t show up to play at the right level at the right time.”

                The Cougar women will be back in action Friday when they travel to face Otero Junior College at 9 a.m. in Pueblo, Colorado. The Cougar women will then face Trinidad State College on Saturday.

WNCC men suffer first loss of year to No. 11 LCCC

               The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team knew they were going to have a tough match Wednesday against No. 11 Laramie County Community College in a Region IX conference contest.

                The match was a battle as LCCC scored three times in the first and then held off the Cougar men’s rally in the second half to record the 3-1 win at the Landers Soccer Complex.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said his men’s team wasn’t ready to play a nationally-ranked team with the speed they put out on the field.

                “They didn’t play well enough because you can’t go and play a nationally ranked opponent and only play part of the game,” Rasnic said. “We will see them again and we will see what happens. The goals we gave up are probably not goals that we will give up again. We just got sloppy and weren’t ready for that speed of play. Our schedule was not so tough before we saw LCCC. We just weren’t ready to play against that speed.”

                The Cougar men allowed just one goal in the previous four matches. Wednesday night, LCCC quickly took control in scoring two goals in the first 25 minutes of play.

                The Golden Eagles scored just eight minutes into the contest as Omar Castruita took a pass from Carlos Vargas and dribbled into the box and put the ball squarely into the net.

                Seventeen minutes later, Vargas scored an unassisted goal to make it 2-0.

                LCCC made it 3-0 with 10:12 to play in the opening half when Chuy Gonzales took a free kick and put the ball into the box as Imourana Naite headed the ball into the net for the 3-0 lead.

                LCCC could have made it 4-0 but a late shot went wide. The difference in the contest was the Golden Eagles controlled play on their side of the field. LCCC had seven corner kicks in the first half to zero for the Cougars.

                The second half was a different story for WNCC. LCCC had a shot just five minutes into the half which was saved by Imanal Munoz. That save helped the momentum switch a little bit for the Cougars. With 28:05 to play in the match, WNCC finally got on the scoreboard. Washington Alves delivered a long pass to Rodrigo Cercal which Cercal was sprinting to the net and got control of the ball and went one-on-one with the defender beside and put the ball into the net.

                WNCC had another fine scoring opportunity with 1:30 to play as Saugat Rai missed on a shot that went wide.

                WNCC was outshot 14 to two. LCCC had nine shots on goal while the Cougars had one on goal. The Golden Eagles finished the game with 13 corner kicks to zero for the Cougars.

                Munoz finished the game with six saves in net.

                WNCC, 4-1, will be back in action for two more conference games on Friday and Saturday when they travel to face Otero Junior College on Friday in Pueblo, Colorado, and then Trinidad State College on Saturday.