The Western Nebraska Community College women's soccer team will be opening up the season with a depleted roster after the team has been hampered during the pre-season by nagging injuries.
Still, the Cougars will have plenty of firepower when they open the Region IX campaign Friday against Trinidad State Junior College and then Saturday against Otero Junior College whether it be with 12 or 15 players.
"This has been an interesting fall so far," WNCC head coach Todd Rasnic said. "We ended playing our first pre-season scrimmage with 12 ladies (on Saturday against Colorado Mesa). We have been hit by some odd, non-contact injuries that occurred early in the season so we are working to get our team back together. It is a work in progress to this point."
But, whoever is on the field when they open up this weekend, there will plenty of talent. While it might be young talent considering the Cougars only bring back six sophomores from a year ago, the potential is there.
"With everyone we have involved in a match, we are still a pretty tall contender for the season," Rasnic said. "But it is also a rebuilding year because we had a lot of sophomores last year and we have a core of six sophomore players coming back. One of those sophomores is injured and out for the season so we are down to five sophomores for the season. Until we can get the freshmen moving in the right direction, that could be something that could make the games interesting."
Returning for their sophomore season include Jesse Michel of Logan, Utah; Shelby Neubert of Loveland, Colorado, Emily Henshew and Eden Washington, Sierra Benavidez of Sterling, Colorado, and Janie McAmis of Bell Fouche, South Dakota. McAmis, however, is out for the season after injuring a knee earlier in August.
The Cougars also have the addition of sophomore transfer Janalynn McKay from Logan, Utah, to help the team.
The talent, however, comes with a young freshmen crew. Included in the newcomers are local standouts from Scottsbluff Morgan Smith and Chloey Reifschneider. Both players led the Bearcats to the district title last spring.
Other newcomers include Allison Parker of Westminster, Colorado. Parker will be the starting goalkeeper as they enter the season.
The rest of the freshmen include Brittany Stratford and Marissa Dahlvang of Belle Fouche, South Dakota; Juliana Stratford of Sandy, Utah; Ana Caroline of Maceio, Brazil; Bianca Gomez of Lexington; Aspen Tremayne of Logan, Utah; Katelyn Pyle of Sterling, Colorado; and Ashley Monzalvo of Denver, Colorado.
Rasnic said he needs to be patient with this team, but things do look good once all the pieces fall together.
"I think we have some talent. We certainly have brought in a lot of players that are functional in many areas," he said. "So far we are just waiting to see which freshmen step up to really take a leadership role on the team. But I think we do have a good deal of talent. It just depends on how quickly we can get some of injuries cleared up."
Two of the players that have caught Rasnic's eye are Tremayne and Dahlberg, but there are plenty of others that are having a good week of practice.
"As far as freshmen are concerned, Aspen Tremayne and Marissa Dahlvang both have showed that they play with a great deal of desire," he said. "Their physical speed is good. Their aggressive play is good. I think there are some other players, as we move along, that will step forward and show that they came here to compete."
The Cougars will need all the talent they can muster this weekend when they face two Region IX opponents that area talented. Trinidad returns eight players from a year ago under first year coach Peter Freeman. Last season, the Cougars beat the Trojans three times 3-2, 1-0, and then 4-0 in the play-in game of the regional tournament. The Trinidad game is slated to begin at 3 p.m.
Otero went 13-3-2 a year ago and lost to Laramie County in the Region IX championship game. WNCC and Otero were equal a year ago as the two teams went 1-1-1. WNCC opened the season by dropping the Rattlers 2-0 before the two teams settled for a 2-2 tie at Otero. At the regional tournament, Otero got the better of the Cougars 5-0.
The Rattlers have 11 sophomores on the squad this season. First kick is slated for 6 p.m. in LaJunta, Colorado.
Rasnic said he expects both games to be tough.
"[Trinidad] always are tough," Rasnic said. "Trinidad returns some pretty decent players from last year and so does Otero, and I am sure they built on top of that. This will be a good first test for us to go in and bond. We will have to go in and as a team, give it our best effort and see where we will end up at the end of the weekend."
After this weekend, the Cougars will travel to Northeastern Junior College on Friday. Rasnic is hoping to get some players back this weekend and hopefully be at full speed in a couple weeks. Until then, this season will be a work in progress.
"It is a bit early to see how we will do; we will have to wait and see this year," he said. "These injuries certainly put a damper on pre-season training. It may take a bit of time to get in sync, but I am hoping that the game pressure this weekend that something will click and we will put it together. I am optimistic about that but I am also cautious about saying we are further advanced than where we really are. We just need to be patient this year."