WNCC women tie Casper in conference play
The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team has had its struggles in the first three weeks this season, but on Friday everything game together perfectly as the Cougar women played strong defense and scored when they needed in registering a Region IX conference tie with Casper College 1-1 at Landers Soccer Complex.
Freshman Amanda Duarte of Brazil, said this was a team win in so many ways for her team.
“We played as a team and we were strong and played for each other,” Duarte said. “We played secure and with a lot of attention.”
On paper, when looking at the shots taken, it would seem as the Cougars didn’t play well, but they did the little things. Casper had 21 shots in the match to just three for the Cougars.
It was those little things that were key for the Cougars and that included a strong defense.
“It was a good feeling and we ere happy (to get the tie,” Duarte said. “The result shows that we have the play to the end and we have to do that on Saturday.”
The first half was a defensive encounter as neither team had a bunch of shots. Casper had about seven shots and WNCC had a couple of changes. The big one was with about nine left to play in the half, Yasmin Urbina had a free kick that went wide. The two teams were knotted at 0-0 at halftime.
The second half was a wild one. Casper had 14 shots in the half and WNCC goal keeper Emily Villagomez kept the Cougars in the game with some strong saves.
Finally, with 26:36 to play in the match, WNCC mounted an attack. Off a free kick and a scrum in front of the net, Duarte found the ball and placed it into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
The Cougars rode that goal and continue playing tough defense stopping four potential tying goals. With 8:45 to play, Casper scored on a similar play that the Cougars scored. It was like a scrum in front of the net when Jessa Lynn took a pass from Taylor Miller and tied the match.
After that, Casper had four attempts to win the match, but the Cougar defense played lights out and thwarted the attempts and came away with the win.
WNCC will be back in action Saturday, September 14 when they host Gillette College in another conference game at 1 p.m. at Landers Soccer Complex.
WNCC women fall to Gillette 1-0 in a competitive contest
Fifteen seconds was all the difference from a tie, win and a loss for the Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team on Saturday in the home contest with Gillette College.
The Cougar women played well enough that could have won with their aggressive play, but it was just 15 seconds left in the first half that was the difference.
WNCC had plenty of opportunities and came up short earlier in the first half. Amanda Duante had a shot go high with 34 minutes left. Later, Ashley Villagomez had a shot that went high with 19:50 to play. With 7:42 in the first, WNCC had a corner kick they couldn’t convert on.
The same misfortune happened to Gillette as they had plenty of shots that WNCC goalkeeper Dory Jenson made saves. It was with under a minute to play that Gillette scored. The Pronghorns had a free kick, but WNCC’s wall of blockers blocked the ball back to Brooke Durham. Durham’s second kick went high and bounced high and when it came down it was in the net with 15 seconds to play in the half.
The second half saw both teams with chances to add scores, but nothing was going right. With 20:45 to play, WNCC had a prime scoring opportunity, but couldn’t capitalize. A minute later, Villagomez had a shot that went high.
With 4:50 to play, WNCC had a golden chance for a score, but a sliding shot wouldn’t go into the net. WNCC kept getting chances as the Cougars had another shot with 3:20 to play, but Gillette’s goalkeeper made the save.
With under a minute to play, there was a foul near or in the box. WNCC was rewarded a free kick just like Gillette had in the first half. WNCC’s free kick, however, went high and Gillette snuck out of Landers Soccer Complex with the win.
Gillette had an unofficial 13 shots in the contest while WNCC had eight shots.
Jenson made six saves in net for the Cougars.
WNCC will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to face Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Cougars will then have their last regular season home games of the season next weekend when they face Northeastern Junior College on Friday and Lamar Community College on Saturday. Action begins at 1 p.m. for the women’s contest with the men to follow.
