The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team knew they were going to have a tough match Wednesday against No. 11 Laramie County Community College in a Region IX conference contest.

                The match was a battle as LCCC scored three times in the first and then held off the Cougar men's rally in the second half to record the 3-1 win at the Landers Soccer Complex.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said his men's team wasn't ready to play a nationally-ranked team with the speed they put out on the field.

                "They didn't play well enough because you can't go and play a nationally ranked opponent and only play part of the game," Rasnic said. "We will see them again and we will see what happens. The goals we gave up are probably not goals that we will give up again. We just got sloppy and weren't ready for that speed of play. Our schedule was not so tough before we saw LCCC. We just weren't ready to play against that speed."

                The Cougar men allowed just one goal in the previous four matches. Wednesday night, LCCC quickly took control in scoring two goals in the first 25 minutes of play.

                The Golden Eagles scored just eight minutes into the contest as Omar Castruita took a pass from Carlos Vargas and dribbled into the box and put the ball squarely into the net.

                Seventeen minutes later, Vargas scored an unassisted goal to make it 2-0.

                LCCC made it 3-0 with 10:12 to play in the opening half when Chuy Gonzales took a free kick and put the ball into the box as Imourana Naite headed the ball into the net for the 3-0 lead.

                LCCC could have made it 4-0 but a late shot went wide. The difference in the contest was the Golden Eagles controlled play on their side of the field. LCCC had seven corner kicks in the first half to zero for the Cougars.

                The second half was a different story for WNCC. LCCC had a shot just five minutes into the half which was saved by Imanal Munoz. That save helped the momentum switch a little bit for the Cougars. With 28:05 to play in the match, WNCC finally got on the scoreboard. Washington Alves delivered a long pass to Rodrigo Cercal which Cercal was sprinting to the net and got control of the ball and went one-on-one with the defender beside and put the ball into the net.

                WNCC had another fine scoring opportunity with 1:30 to play as Saugat Rai missed on a shot that went wide.

                WNCC was outshot 14 to two. LCCC had nine shots on goal while the Cougars had one on goal. The Golden Eagles finished the game with 13 corner kicks to zero for the Cougars.

                Munoz finished the game with six saves in net.

                WNCC, 4-1, will be back in action for two more conference games on Friday and Saturday when they travel to face Otero Junior College on Friday in Pueblo, Colorado, and then Trinidad State College on Saturday.