TRAPPERS FALL SHORT IN REGION CHAMPIONSHIP

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

A historical first took place Saturday at Trapper Field as the Northwest College women's soccer team played in, and hosted, a region titile game for the first time. However, the Trappers came up short against defending Region IX champion Laramie County Community College 1-0 to end the Northwest season.    

LCCC 1, NORTHWEST 0
In front of a raucous crowd on Saturday the Trappers (11-4-2) matched up with the Golden Eagles (11-4-3) after the two teams  played to a 2-2 draw on Oct. 12.

After a strong first couple minutes by the visitors the Trappers settled into possession and continued to retain the ball throughout much of the first half.

Northwest had its first chance on a corner kick 10 minutes in, and followed with a header by Nayeli Aguayo on a free kick that went just over the bar as Powell continued to search for a goal early.

Pressly Taylor followed with a good opportunity to take the lead 15 minutes in, before disaster struck midway through the half.

A long ball bounced towards the box, but coudn't be corralled by Trapper keeper Anina Gut.

The ball bounced off into open space and the Golden Eagles pounced on the opportunity to put it in the back of the net to make it 1-0 with 21 minutes left in the first half.

"LCCC came in with the game plan to play ugly, sit in, kick the ball away and hopefully get a second ball," coach Rob Hill said. "So they made it difficult for us, because they came to play ugly and they were happy with getting just the one scrappy goal. That was the only chance that I saw that they created … Unfortunately that's what did us in was the long ball."

Northwest quickly had a chance to answer, but Elliasen Lewis was unable to finish the opportunity and it stayed 1-0.

Throughout much of the game the Trappers continued to have possession and found some advanced positions, but were unable to find a player in the right spot to put a ball in the back of the net. 

One of the best opportunities came late in the second half when Taylor was fouled on the edge of the box, but Tessa Hyland's free kick was blocked by the edge of the wall and Taylor's follow did not have enough strength.

Another free kick late was blocked by the Golden Eagles in the final minutes, and the visitors held on for the 1-0 win.

"It wasn't meant to be for us. The chances that we created, we've got to execute," Hill said. "They made it tight because they just sat in, so whenever they do that, you've got to be intelligent … I thought we were a better soccer team. I thought we tried to play soccer, and we tried to actually beat them with soccer and they didn't. That's just life, that's just the way it goes."

Northwest outshot LCCC 16-8 in the match, and had more corners 4-1 but was unable to find a finishing touch in its first ever Region IX championship.     

BRIGHT FUTURE
Following one of the most successful seasons for the Trappers since Hill's return to the program, the future remains bright for Northwest, with 11 players eligible to return to this year's team.

"In 2021 I came back and I don't think they had a winning season in four or five years. So I set right away to try and get this program competing again," Hill said. "It's taken till now to get it done, but I think I said to the girls at the end 'it's a platform for us to launch off.' The girls returning should really take that into next season and realize just how close we were and take that next step."

Northwest will need to replace several starters throughout each portion of the field, with Hill already on the recruiting trail to try bringing in another set of players to take that next step next year.

"We've got to bring in another 10-12 players that are going to help us raise the game," Hill said. "The people coming and all the people returning have got to bring that leadership and that hunger and desire that they've had this year. We've got to learn from that, grow from that, which we usually see from freshman to sophomore years … and then build upon that with our new recruits."

He said the focus next year will be getting back to the championship game.