TRAPPER MEN STRUGGLE ON ROAD SWING

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

After getting its first victory of the season on a swing through Nevada the weekend prior, the Northwest men's soccer team struggled to find form in a Utah road trip, finishing 0-2-1 over three days.

Starting out the weekend, the Trappers matched up with No. 14 ranked Snow College presenting an early season test for Northwest.

Playing strong throughout the first half, the Trappers kept Snow at bay before the Badgers broke through in the 34th minute.

Snow added to its lead in the 62nd minute, doubling the advantage to 2-0.

Northwest got back in the game eight minutes later, when freshman forward Paulo Victor Gomes found the back of the net on an assist from freshman midfielder Arthur Dalfior Kataoka — making it a 2-1 game with just 20 minutes left.

One minute later Snow pushed the lead back out to two goals, and made it three goals in the 74th minute to put the game out of reach.

The Badgers added one more goal in the 87th minute to hand the Trappers a 5-1 defeat, their first official loss on the season.

Heading into Friday, the Trappers matched up with Colorado Northwestern, looking to rebound from the Thursday loss.

The game did not start out strong for Northwest, when Colorado Northwestern scored two goals in the opening 21 minutes.

Sophomore Landon Carpenter scored his first goal of the season in the 25th minute, followed by freshman Kurtis Richins' first goal of the season in the 28th minute to tie the game 2-2.

Northwest took the lead on a goal from freshman Benjamin Lachaize in the 48th minute, but the celebration was short lived as just over 30 seconds later Colorado Northwestern answered to tie it at 3-3.

Freshman John Joe Mullane gave the Trappers the lead in the 60th minute which appeared to be the winner for the Trappers.

But Colorado Northwestern had one last answer with three minutes left to finish the game tied 4-4.

Northwest then went into another difficult matchup Saturday, squaring off with No. 17 Utah State Eastern to finish the road trip.

A short little lapse in play from the Trappers allowed USU Eastern to take the lead and extend it, scoring three goals in 11 minutes to put the game out of reach in the first half and leading to the 3-0 final score.

After the weekend road trip the Trappers move to 1-2-1 on the season, but now return home for the first time this season.

Northwest (1-2-1) opens up Region IX play this Saturday against Western Nebraska Community College at 2 p.m.

This will be one of only five games that the Trappers play at home this season, before heading back on the road next weekend to take on Lamar Community College and Northeastern Junior College.