CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College women's soccer team fell to #18 Eastern Arizona College on Monday afternoon in a weather shortened 2-0 game to open their home schedule in their second straight battle with a top 20 team in the NJCAA rankings.
"We want to play the best to push ourselves to be in that environment," Head Coach Lugo Arenas said. "When the tough moments come later down the road, we'll have an idea of what to expect. That gives us a good idea of where we are and where we need to be towards the end of the year and the things that we need to fix early on.
The game got off to a quick start for LCCC as they were able to get inside of the Gila Monsters 18-yard box in the opening minute. The pressure quickly changed though, and it was EAC who put in the first goal with a strike from Kara Camp breaking open the scoring in the fourth minute to give them the early advantage.
LCCC was able to weather the storm in the first half though, and eventually was able to move the ball up the field better, resulting in several chances late in the half, including a pair of shots on goal.
After the break, the Golden Eagles came out more aggressive and began to control the tempo in the opening minutes, but they were caught overextended in the 52nd minute when Camp was able to slip through the back four and strike for her second goal of the game on a through ball that just got past Rebecca Sargent to put EAC up 2-0.
That didn't change the aggressive nature from the Golden Eagles, as they continued to work the ball forward, earning several free kicks and corner kicks in the second half that gave good opportunities, including a header in the box that just missed from Haley Pierson and a corner kick that resulted in a scramble by the Gila Monster's goalie to clear it away with a kick save.
"In my mind, it is something we should really take advantage of because of how good we are in the air and the size that we have across the back line," Arenas said. "We have the right group of players that regardless of who's on the field can deliver a good service, we just have yet to take advantage of those."
They also began to match the physicality in the game, paced by freshman Celeste Jimenez-Montero who began to take charge in the midfield.
"It's nice seeing some of our freshman players stepping up and really just playing without any fear," Arenas said. "We've also got Hailey Grillas and Haley Pierson in the middle, I mean, that's why they have played so much these first games, is they are those nitty-gritty players that are just going to run through and aren't backing down."
The Golden Eagles opportunity to rally was cut short by weather due to a lightning delay in the 83rd minute which eventually forced the game to be called. Due to NJCAA rules, matches must be restarted within three hours of kickoff, or they will be postponed or, if more than 70 minutes have been played, the game is called and finalized.
LCCC finished with eight shots in the game but just two on goal. In net, Sargent made seven saves in the game on nine shots on goal and EAC finished the match with 14 total shot attempts.
Arenas said he is hoping the team can draw motivation from the unfinished result and carry that into their game against Cochise College on Tuesday morning.