Injuries, eligibility plague Lady Conquistadors, finish eighth position .
DODGE CITY, Kan.—Despite not qualifying for a second consecutive Region VI tournament appearance,
the Lady Conquistadors still managed much success in 2012. Dodge City finished 8-12-0 overall and 5-8-0
in the tough Kansas Jayhawk, a full game better than last year’s dramatic improvement. This year, the
squad was predicted to finish eighth by the coaches and the women did just that, one position lower
than 2011.
The women might not have made such drastic, noticeable improvements, but collectively the women
moved the program further in the right direction. The eight wins were the program’s fourth-most and
the most wins in the past five seasons while the mark of 12 losses was the fourth-fewest in program
history.
Regardless of not having another six-match improvement, you could make a case that the women were
actually close to achieving a similar, drastic improvement. Of the team’s twelve losses, three were by
one goal (Cloud, Coffeyville and Pratt) and slow-starts and continuous sluggish play prevented the Lady
Conquistadors from getting any sort of results against Tabor College and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M
to open the season. Even though the women lost 5-1 to Barton, they trailed 2-0 at the half and scored to
make the game 2-1, but failed to rally momentum.
On the flip side, the women scored eight more goals in 2012 than they did last season, averaging 1.70
goals per 90 minutes, 0.02 off the fifth-best in team history. Amanda Carney (Australia) and Lety Ibarra
(Las Vegas, Nev.) combined for 19 goals and 11 assists, representing 48% of the team’s scoring. The 34
team goals scored is a mark good enough for fourth-place in program history.
The women tied 2007’s top program mark for home wins in a season with five. Dodge City gave up
almost a goal less this season than they did in 2011, and despite giving up a generous 2.55 goals per
game, the Lady Conquistadors managed to put together three shutouts, including a 6-0 home romp over
arch-rival Garden City in September.
There were a few lows to the season, mainly injuries and eligibility. At season’s start, twenty girls were
due to arrive. Lacie Duran (Salt Lake City, Utah) had surgery to repair a hole in her heart. Midfielder
Cassie Coop (Sandy, Utah) and forward Monica Garcia (Dodge City, Kan.) needed summer courses to
become eligible for 2012’s season, and failed to pass classes prior to the season’s August 24th kick-off.
Back-up goalkeeper Araceli Casteneda (Dodge City, Kan.) became ineligible before the Barton away
match because of poor academic standing and Rianon Patterson (England) had difficulty with transcripts
being translated and sat out the entire year. Vanessa Perez (Dodge City, Kan.) and Crystal Medina
(Dodge City, Kan.) both suffered injuries. Perez battled asthma for the duration of the year at forced the
team to play down at times and Medina suffered a season-ending retina tear against Kansas City.