The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team will have a battle during their first two weekends as they face three pre-season ranked teams.
The Cougars open the season Thursday at home against No. 18 Utah State-Eastern at 12 noon followed by a noon contest against Northwest College on Friday. Both contests are at the Landers Soccer Complex. The women’s team plays at 10 a.m. on both days.
After opening at home, the Cougars will then hit the road for two games in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on August 30-31 when they face No. 14 Iowa Western Community College and then No. 7 Indian Hills Community College.
WNCC soccer coach Todd Rasnic said the team is excited to be opening the season on Thursday just because they are tired of playing each other.
“We are tired of sitting around and we are tired of coming and training and playing each other every day,” Rasnic said. “We need to get tested and this Thursday and Friday will be a good time for us to see where we are at and where we need to get to be productive teams on the men’s and women’s side.”
He also realizes it won’t be an easy week on both sides, the men and women.
“We are playing a lot of ranked teams period because we need to see where we need to get to and to do that we need to play some teams that are at a high level and ranked among the country,” Rasnic said. “We are looking forward to it and we think it will be a good test for us and if we play the way we think we can play, then we will come out and do a good job and compete really well.”
The Cougars went 8-5-3 a year ago and fell to Otero College in the semifinals of the Region IX tournament 3-0. Utah State-Eastern finished last season at 11-4-1 and lost in the semifinals of the Region 18 tournament to No. 2 Salt Lake Community College 3-1.
Both teams were similar last year with the results and this year have the same teams with plenty of returners from a year ago. Utah State-Eastern has nine sophomores on the team while WNCC returns 12 sophomores.
Rasnic said there is plenty of talent on this year’s Cougar men’s soccer team.
“I think we are loaded with talent; the question is can we play as a team. That is always the question,” he said. “We always have pretty good talent on the men’s side and the women’s side as well, but it always depends on how well they mesh and how they come together as a group. We will just have to wait and see.”
Many of the 12 sophomores saw action a year ago. Leading the team with returners included Michael Escobar and Isrrael Rodriguez of Miami, Florida; Jeronimo Zelaya Diaz of Bueno Ares, Argentina; Roberto Rivero of Venezuela; Max Niyibaho of Brussels Belgium; Lucas Ovalle of Las Condes, Chili; Simon Echeverry of Bogota, Colombia; Eduardo Oliveira of Cutiabla, Brazil; Giilherme Lindolfo of Sao Paulo, Brazil; Paul Denz of Laufenburg, Germany; Joao Menezes, Alex Carrillo of Quito Ecuador; and Joao Bisneto from Jaboatao dos Guararapes, Brazil.
The freshmen on the team include goalkeepers Thomas Guzman of Argentina and Owen Henderson of Greeley, Colorado.
The other freshmen include Bonheur Kitongo and Mazmal Babiker of Erie, Pennesylvania; Brady Smallwood of Greeley, Colorado; Alvaro Abeal of Spain; Mederique Ebourie of Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Jeff Laguerre of Haines City, Florida; Jafeth Ortega and Anthony Lemus of Houston, Texas; and Fabian Cancio and Yediel Hernandez of Puerto Rico.
This year’s team, with the depth of returners and freshmen, have the potential to go far. The early season schedule stacking up against some of the top teams in the nation will be a test for the team, but also will give them an indication what they need to work on to compete with the elite in the nation.
“We have some work to do on both sides but I think both teams can come out and set their own standards and the season is still young and we just have to see from there how it looks for this season,” Rasnic said. “Right now the jury is still out. We don’t know exactly how they will do.”
After this week’s contests, the Cougars will next be at home on September 13 when they face No. 10 Casper College. The goal of the season is a Region IX title, something that the Cougar men haven’t accomplished since 2003. The winner of the Region IX tournament automatically qualifies for the NJCAA national tournament in Wichita, Kansas the middle of November.
