The Western Nebraska Community College men's and women's soccer team split conference games against Gillette College on Friday at the Lander's soccer complex.
The Cougar men received goals from Bernardo Torres and Hector Salgado to earn a 2-1 over Gillette College. The Cougar women held a 1-0 lead at halftime before allowing the Gillette women to score three times in the second half to down WNCC 3-1.
Both teams will be back in action Saturday afternoon at Landers Soccer Complex when they host Sheridan College. The women kick off at 1:30 p.m. followed by the men's game at 4 p.m.
"I thought the men played a little better than they have," WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. "They certainly controlled the rhythm and tempo of the game for the most part of the match. We are still having trouble in finding the back of the net, but we found the back for two goals. Unfortunately, we gave up one late in the game and made it a little bit of a stressful situation in the last two minutes. Overall, I thought the guys did a good job of keeping the match under control."
The Cougar men out shot Gillette 23-6 in the contest and controlled the pace of the game for 88 minutes.
WNCC scored first with 20:54 left in the first half when Torres scored off an assist from Omar Sissoko for the only score of the first half.
The second half was all defense for the first half. WNCC went up 2-0 with 21:36 to play after Saul Aguilar dribbled the ball and found Salgado, who finished the ball for the score.
WNCC couldn't get the shutout as Gillette scored with 1:43 to play on a goal from Joey Antonovich.
WNCC had five corner kicks to three for Gillette.
The Cougars Richard Gutierrez and Ruam Barbosa had three saves in net.
The women's contest was a different story. Rasnic said the women's contest was a tale of two halves.
"It was a tale of two halves, and you have to credit Gillette because they came out with resolve in the second half and they outworked us. We lost the midfield and they took over the rhythm and pace of the game. Once they did that it was all downhill. We have to do a better job of finishing the game. I think the girls certainly learned a little bit of a lesson there."
WNCC played a strong first half in the women's contest. Gering's Destiny Mueller scored the first goal with 15:57 to play in the opening half off an assist from Caroline Vieira.
The second half was a different story as Gillette took control. The Pronghorns knotted the score as Jaycie Green scored with 33 minutes to play off an assist from Emma Jarvis.
Both teams went back and forth for the next 15 minutes before Gillette went ahead as Jarvis scored off an assist from Molly Fehringer with 18 minutes to play. The Pronghorns added an insurance goal with 10:30 to play as Karlie Valdez scored on an assist from Greene.
The shots were equal int the contest with the Cougar women getting 15 shots compared to 11 for Gillette. WNCC had two corner kicks in the contest to just one for Gillette.
WNCC's Laramie Lake finished with five saves in net.