Scottsbluff’s Rodriguez will join the WNCC women’s soccer team next year

            Adryana Rodriguez, one of the top 2-sport athletes at Scottsbluff High, will be continuing her playing days at the collegiate level after committing to the women’s soccer program at Western Nebraska Community College.

            Rodriguez was a standout athlete in softball and soccer the past four years and when it game time to decide which sport she was going to play in college, she picked soccer, but it wasn’t an easy decision to pick just one.

            “I'd say it was it was kind of hard, but I think I had my heart set on soccer for a long time since this year,” Rodriguez said Thursday at Scottsbluff High. “I think I decided to stay here because I didn't really know what I was doing, so I think it would be best just to stay close to my family while I was deciding.”

            Rodriguez’ popularity on the playing surface saw players from both her sports at the signing Thursday to cheer her on. She started to think about soccer as a possibility for a college sport the end of her junior year and the start of her senior year.

            “I was looking at northeast, but I just decided this one would be the best fit,” the speedy Rodriguez said. “It feels really nice knowing that I get to go to the next level and continue playing.”

            Smalls, by what her teammates and others called her, said soccer is a sport that she loves that takes her mind off of everything and “it’s just fun to me.”

            Playing soccer at WNCC might come to a surprise to many after her successful softball career and a softball career that spanned since she was little.

            WNCC women’s soccer coach Todd Rasnic said Rodriquez has all the tools to be a successful college athlete and that is what he likes about his latest signee. The number one thing he loves about her is her intensity for the game.

            “That's why she loves soccer because she can forget everything else (while on the field),” Rasnic said. “That's what a lot of people tell you when they want to play the game at a high level. But that's what it takes; it takes the intensity. She has great speed. She has finishing ability, so she can shoot well. We will actually improve that over the next couple years. But I just think when you look at a kid or a young lady, you can just tell when they're a college level player. Just that intensity they bring to the game and the dedication to the sport, and I think also just the general mental attitude that they play the game with. In soccer especially, you kind of got to play a little bit with the chip on your shoulder to be an impact player. I think all of those things would describe how I saw her play at Scottsbluff, so I think she'll bring a lot of good qualities to the team.

            Scottsbluff soccer coach Kelli Kaul said Rodriquez will fit in perfectly to the soccer program at WNCC with her work ethic and her speed.

            “I do know she was our top goal scorer this season. And just to echo what Coach Rasnic said, she's bringing a lot of great qualities to the Cougar Program. They're getting a good one on their roster,” Kaul said. “She's got great speed. She's super athletic. She works really hard every single day. She's committed to the sport and committed to her teammates. She's also got soccer IQ, she's aware, she's got great field vision, reads the game really well, and is a great finisher. So just in general, she's ready for the next level. I'm really excited to support her at a WNCC.”

            Rodriguez will have plenty of people she knows at WNCC. She will be joining her Bearcat teammate from her junior year Mariah Russell and she will also be playing alongside Gering’s Allison Herbel, who committed to WNCC earlier this year. In fact, Herbel and Rodriquez will be roommates next year at the college.

            One of the reasons she picked WNCC was what the players on the team had to say about the program and she is excited to make new friends.

            “I really like the girls on the team and I've heard a lot of good things about the coaches,” Smalls said. “I've just talked to the girls and they said a lot of good things about it.

Her goals at WNCC is simple, she wants to make new friends and possibility go onto the 4-year level to play.

“I want to make a name for myself or just make myself know in the college level,” she said. “it's just an unknown experience, starting all over again.”

Rodriguez has only a few more weeks of high school left as she will graduate May 18 from Scottsbluff. Smalls said she has enjoyed her time at Scottsbluff playing softball and soccer.

“I think it's a great honor to say that I'm playing for Scottsbluff,” she said. “They have, like, I don't know what the word is for it, but just a good community like of athletes that are all close with each other and they push each other to be better to get to the next level.”

            She added that she will always remember her high school friends, but she is excited to meet new friends as well.

“I'm close enough to home where it's not that big of a change,” she said. “I could just text any of them, but I'm excited to meet the new players and start getting new friendships also.
            Rodriguez plans to go into radiology and become a radiologist.