STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team battled back from a 2-0 deficit to register a 3-2 win over Northeastern Junior College in Region IX Conference play Friday afternoon in Sterling, Colorado.

The Cougars received two goals from Lesley Vasquez to spearhead the comeback.

NJC grabbed a 1-0 lead at halftime and then led early in the second half 2-0. That was when the Cougars picked up the offense when Vasquez scored the first goal for the Cougars to slice the deficit in half.

Moments later, Vasquez earned her second goal off an assist from Maria Villagomez.

It was late in the game when Maria Villagomez scored off an assist from Aileen Perez to put the Cougars in front for the first time in the game.

After that the defense kept shutting out the Plainswomen in picking up the conference win.

WNCC was outshot in the contest 22-18. Vasquez had five shots in the contest of which four were on goal.

Emily Villagomez had seven saves in net for the Cougars.

WNCC had seven cornerkicks to three for NJC.

WNCC, 3-4-2 overall and 2-3-1 in conference play, will continue play in Region IX conference on Saturday when they head to Lamar Community College for a key conference game. The two teams are practically tied in the conference standings. Lamar had a 3-6-3 overall record and are 2-4-1 in conference play.

WNCC, NJC men earn a tie in conference game

STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College and Northeastern Junior College men’s soccer teams battled back and forth on the soccer pitch Friday in a Region IX conference showdown in Sterling, Colorado.

After one half, neither team scored and in the second half each team netted a goal as the teams settled for a 1-1 tie.

The tie moves the Cougars to 5-2-2- overall and 3-1-1 in conference play. NJC moves to 3-3-2 overall and 2-1-2 in conference play.

WNCC will be back in action Saturday when they continue the Colorado road trip with a contest against Lamar Community College, a team that is 1-12 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

Friday, though, WNCC dominated on the offensive side with 28 shots of which 13 were on net compared to just 17 shots for NJC.

Despite the shot disparity, neither team scored in the first half. The second half saw NJC grab a 1-0 lead early. WNCC earned the tie later on in the second half as Robert Rivero scored on a Sabastian Arenas assist.

Neither team could score again as the two teams had to settle for the tie.

WNCC goalkeeper Hernan Burdiles had eight saves in net.

Arenas led the Cougars with three shots, two of which were on net. Four Cougars had two shots in the contest with Jeronimo Zelaya Diaz, Pablo Dominguez, Isrrael Rodriguez, and Maximo Niyibaho.