TRAPPER WOMEN WIN COLORADO GAMES

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

After a disappointing start to the season at home the Northwest College women's soccer team rebounded in Rangely, Colorado, over the weekend — defeating Colorado Northwestern Community College 3-1 and 5-3 on Friday and Saturday.   

NORTHWEST 3, COLORADO NORTHWESTERN CC 1
Heading out on the road for the first time in the regular season the Trappers (2-2) were hoping to rebound early against the Spartans (3-2) on Friday.

Samantha Bonar got the scoring started for Northwest off a Katelynn Campbell assist giving the Trappers the early lead.

Autumn Wilson added a goal off an Amy Price assist in the first half and gave Northwest the 2-0 lead going into the break.

"I felt like for the first 10 minutes we were back to where we were when we played Providence and Rocky," coach Rob Hill said. "We moved the ball and created some good chances."

Northwest grew its lead late in the second half on a Pressly Taylor goal to make it 3-0, but disaster struck late for the Trappers.

With just minutes remaining in the match, Campbell received her second yellow card and was sent off, which allowed for the Spartans to get a goal to make the final score 3-1.

Northwest was outshot 18-10, but five saves out of the six shots on goal for Audette Rodolph helped the Trappers to victory.   

NORTHWEST 5, COLORADO NORTHWESTERN CC 3
The second matchup between the teams had a dream start for Northwest, when a shot from Wilson found its way over the keeper and gave the Trappers a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the contest.

That goal proved to be the only bright spot for the Trappers in the first half, as the Spartans replied with three goals and went into halftime up 3-1.

"We had to make some adjustments with the team at half and talked about mentality and what it takes," Hill said. "The second half was definitely a different display."

Less than a minute into the second half, Wilson immediately scored and got the Trappers back into the contest and made it 3-2.

Four minutes later Taylor slotted the ball past the keeper on a long run to tie the match at 3-3 with 40 minutes still to play.

Northwest completed the comeback just 10 minutes later, when Abby Derbyshire took down a long free kick and put it into the back of the net to give Northwest a 4-3 lead.

That lead held until Derbyshire put the game to bed with a finish in the top corner off a deflected ball in the box to give Northwest the come-from-behind, 5-3 win.

"I told them we shouldn't have been in that position but they came back so all credit to them," Hill said. "That was a weekend we needed."

The Trappers were once again outshot 13-10, but the Trappers put nine of their 10 shots on target compared to seven of the 13 for Colorado Northwestern.    

RETURN HOME SATURDAY
That weekend away continued for the Trappers on Wednesday, heading to Gillette College (0-3) as Northwest started its string of exclusively Region IX matchups.

"The only way I want to see a team beat us is if the team is truly better and not by effort," Hill said. "There are a lot of strong freshmen that are in there that aren't afraid to speak their minds on the women's side."

Those matches will continue on Saturday at home against Central Wyoming (1-3) at 1 p.m. before heading to Casper on Monday to take on Casper College (2-1) at 2 p.m.