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."