Your future, our focus
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
A weekend of scrimmages in Powell and Billings gave an initial look at the Northwest College men’s and women’s soccer teams, with the women defeating two four-year colleges and the men’s team narrowly losing to Rocky Mountain.
The women’s team started with a convincing 4-1 victory over the visiting University of Providence on Saturday in Powell, showing signs of promise while also demonstrating areas that need improvement.
“I thought against Providence there were a lot of positive moments,” coach Rob Hill said. “The midfield started to build good chemistry, but our balls into the final third need work.”
He said it is always nice to beat a four-year school, and feels that maybe some anxiousness playing together for the first time allowed for some mistakes to seep through in the initial scrimmage.
On Sunday the Trappers traveled to Billings, matching up with Rocky Mountain College in a second scrimmage.
Northwest took the lead early in the second half, but Rocky answered and made it 1-1 later in the second half.
The Trappers found a winner just minutes after Rocky tied the game, and Powell earned its second win in a difficult test.
“When it went 1-1 they could have folded but they stuck in there,” Hill said. “The biggest lesson was if they can play under pressure. There were a lot of positives to build on, but we are still a long ways off from where we want to be.”
On the men’s side the Trappers had one scrimmage on Sunday, also taking on Rocky.
Two goals in the first 30 minutes were enough for the hosts to secure the victory in the scrimmage, but the Trappers were able to experiment with several different lineups due to a large roster this fall.
“I wanted to see all of them on the pitch and see who is building chemistry,” Hill said. “There were moments where the guys played really well. We need to be more selfish in the final third.”
He said that the team reviewed film and saw where mistakes snowballed and resulted in a goal.
Hill said the Trappers were planning to experiment more in a scrimmage that was set for Wednesday night at MSU-Billings, before the team returns home to open the season.
Those season openers are Thursday (today) against Utah State University Eastern, beginning with the women’s game at noon, and the men’s game to follow at 2 p.m. at Trapper Field.
“USU Eastern gets a lot of Utah kids that are tough,” Hill said.
The early home games will continue on Saturday, with the women taking on Truckee Meadows, Nevada, at 9 a.m. and the men’s game at 11 a.m.
“Both teams need to realize this is the start of the season,” Hill said. “We need to be stronger at home … It’s very important for us to come out strong and build on the preseason we had.”