SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. -  The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team played solid defense to get the shutout 2-0 win over Trinidad State College in a South conference contest Saturday at Landers Soccer Complex.
WNCC head coach Eseah Ingram said his team got the win, but it wasn’t their best game overall.
“We just tried to play principal futbol,” Ingram said. “When they play five in the back five, the biggest thing is being patient on the ball, switching the side of play, and just try to break them down. I don’t think we did a good job executing today. We could have given a much better performance, but at the end of the day we will take the wins when we get them.”
The big thing is the Cougars got a shutout and that was important as Trinidad plays all the teams tough. The Trojans are still looking for their first win on the season, but on Friday, the Trojans lost to Laramie County Community College 1-0.
“The shutout was important because goals made and goals conceded matter when it comes to ties in the conference,” Ingram said. “At least we got a clean sheet, but our performance could have been a lot better.”
The Cougars managed 11 shots and four shots on goal but could only get two of them into the back of the net. Trinidad State had five shots in the contest.
WNCC made it 1-0 with an early first half goal. Tomoaki Kamiya took a pass from Yediel Hernandez and sent it sailing to the back of the net just 17 minutes into the game. That is where things stood at halftime with WNCC up 1-0.
The second half was another one where goals were hard to come by. WNCC made it 2-0 as Alvaro Abeal beat three players and the keeper to score to make it 2-0 in the 71st minute.
WNCC, who is now 3-2-1 in conference play and 3-3-4 overall, will have another conference game next Saturday when Laramie County Community College comes to Landers Complex for a 4 p.m. contest.
“LCCC is coming here next Saturday, a team that we have seen them a lot. We played them twice last year and twice the year before and it seems we always play them in the regular season and then when it comes to tournament play,” Ingram said. “They are strong in a lot of areas but as long as we do our job and train properly and prepare, we should be OK.”

WNCC women’s soccer shuts out Trinidad 8-0

Julia Santos, Amanda Duarte, and Mariah Russel each scored twice and the Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team shut out Trinidad State College 8-0 in a Region IX South conference contest Saturday at Landers Soccer Complex.
It was the most goals the Cougars have scored in a match since the 2019 season when they won 12-0 against Dakota County Technical College.
Russel scored the final two goals of the contest as the match was called via the 8-goal rule after 70 minutes have been played.
Russel said the team played a lot better in the second half compared to the first. WNCC held a 2-0 lead at halftime and then scored six goals in the second half.
“I think our team played very well especially in the second half,” she said. “We begun to work very well together and capitalized on our opportunities. The second half we definitely were able to come together as a team more and build up to our goals.”
The Cougars had a number of opportunities to score even more goals but just missed on several shots. WNCC had 27 shots in the contest.
WNCC wasted little time in scoring as Santos took a pass from Allison Herbel in the 13th minute and scored on a long shot for the 1-0 lead. WNCC made it 2-0 when Irene Romero Molina took a pass from Adryana Rodriguez and finished for lead at halftime.
The second half was a different story for the Cougar women as they scored six goals. Duarte started the scoring as the sophomore had an unassisted goal as she took a rebound off a missed shot and stuck it back into the net just four minutes into the second half.
Santos netted her second goal just two minutes later as the freshman from Brazil took a pass from Herbel in the 48th minute to make it 4-0.
Nine minutes later, Herbel dished off her third assist of the game as Danae Montalvo scored on a long shot that was well behind the box for a 5-0 lead in the 57th minute. Two minutes later, Duarte scored her second goal as she took a pass from Santos and scored in the 59th minute.
WNCC made it 7-0 in the 70th minute when Russel scored her first goal, taking a pass from Irene Romero Molina for the score.
Russel ended the match with her second goal with just 14 minutes left in the contest when the sophomore from Scottsbluff took a pass from Montalvo and scored for the 8-0 lead and the game.
Russel said that the match called early came unexpected to the team.
“It was definitely unexpected to have the game stopped early,” she said. “I personally was not aware of the new rule.”
WNCC, 2-4 in the conference and 3-7 overall, will be back in action Saturday when Laramie County Community College comes to Scottsbluff for a conference contest. First kick is slated for 1:30 p.m. LCCC is 5-0-1 in conference play and 5-2-2 overall.