Your future, our focus
Women Go 1-1, Men 0-2
The Northwest College men’s and women’s soccer teams traveled to Cheyenne last Friday before making a trip to Scottsbluff, Neb., on Saturday.
The results were mixed for the Lady Trappers, and disappointing for the Trapper men.
Against Laramie County Community College, the NWC women dropped a 3-1 decision. The Lady Trappers trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes of play and 2-0 by halftime. Freshman Gabby Gonzales helped get NWC on the board when her corner kick was fielded by sophomore Amberly Halstead and netted near the 70th minute.
NWC soccer coach Rob Hill said his team played well in the second half, but allowed goals that it shouldn’t have, and that “soft goals” did his team in.
“Those first two goals in the first half shouldn’t have happened,” Hill said. “You can’t allow those types of score.
“But to [the team’s] credit, they came out and played much better in the second half. It was a much more positive 40 minutes.”
On Saturday, the Lady Trappers all but stole a victory against Western Nebraska Community College. Gonzales again helped her team reach the scoreboard with an assist to sophomore Mia Stewart in the 13th minute, but in the 49th minute after halftime, WNCC found the equalizer. NWC later lucked out, however, and pushed its season record to 2-5 when freshman Caddie Boline’s cross kick landed near the Western Nebraska goal and was accidentally scored by a Cougar defender for an own goal in the 75th minute.
“Sometimes those things happen. It’s not the way you want to win, but sometimes you have to take it,” Hill added. “When your team is in need of a win, sometimes breaks like that are great.”
The NWC men were unable to find any breaks over the weekend, suffering back-to-back losses to Laramie and Western Nebraska, pushing its losing streak to three matches.
Hill was especially frustrated after the Trappers managed just one shot on goal in a 2-1 setback to LCCC. His men trailed 2-0 by the 39th minute of play, and it wasn’t until the end that freshman Sean McManamon found the opponent’s net to break up the shut out.
“We didn’t put forth any real effort until we started getting desperate at the end,” Hill said of the loss. “I thought if we put forth some more intensity and effort we could’ve rallied and won.”
Hill said the Trappers played much better against Western Nebraska, as his team led 1-0 and 2-1 before falling in dramatic fashion.
McManamon put his team ahead 1-0 in the 14th minute, and after WNCC tied the match, freshman Brayden Searle put NWC ahead again just 30 seconds later. Western Nebraska bounced back again with a tying goal on a penalty kick, and grabbed the lead with six minutes left. NWC appeared to tie the game when freshman Jeremiah Gagnone sank a header with eight seconds remaining, but Gagnone made contact with the WNCC goalkeeper. The official negated the score due to infringement on the keeper to seal the Trappers’ 3-2 defeat. The NWC men are now 3-4 on the season.
“That was tough ... a hard way to end the match,” Hill said. “We played much better against Western Nebraska, but we’re still not where we need to be.
“I don’t think that right now, we’re the team that we’re going to be down the road. But we’ve had some good practices and some good team chats, and I think we’ll see the team turn the corner this week.”