WOMEN'S SOCCER SPLITS HOME GAMES

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Returning home for the first time in a month brought out the best in the Northwest College women's team Friday, as a Bailey Wright hat trick alongside a strong goalkeeping performance by Julianna Hidalgo led to a 3-0 win over Gillette College, before a difficult Saturday contest saw Northwest fall to visiting Casper College.

NORTHWEST 3, GILLETTE COLLEGE 0
Coming off their first win of the Region IX season the Trappers (3-4-1 overall, 2-3 Region IX) welcomed in the Pronghorns (5-6 overall, 1-4 Region IX) and tried to bring that momentum home.
Northwest got on the front foot early, when Bailey Wright found herself open behind the Pronghorn defense and slotted it past the Pronghorn keeper to make it 1-0, 11 minutes into the contest.
Both teams had opportunities throughout the rest of the half, but both keepers turned away shots to keep the scoreline 1-0 heading into the break.
"Julianna was very, very good," coach Rob Hill said. "She made an absolutely incredible save in the upper 90 [top corner]. I thought Gillette got in behind and had a lot of opportunities to be honest, and they were unlucky for us to go in 1-0. I didn't think we deserved that to be honest."
The Trappers got on the board again early in the second half, when a long free kick found its way to Wright, who tapped it around the keeper before passing it into the net to make it 2-0, 12 minutes into the half.
Northwest didn't have long to celebrate.
Gillette pushed down field quickly, and won a penalty after a foul was called in the box less than a minute after the Trapper goal.
Hidalgo read the kick and jumped to her left, pushing it away before a second shot on net came from the Pronghorns and forced Hidalgo into a kick save before it was cleared away.
"Julianna saved a penalty as well, so it could quite easily have been a whole different game," Hill said.
Wright capped off her hat-trick shortly after, when Elli Lewis raced behind the Pronghorn defense and found herself in the box.
Instead of shooting she squared the ball to Wright who found herself in the right place at the right time to tap it home and make it 3-0 just before the midway point of the second half.
Despite the win, Hill felt the Trappers had more to show following the home win.
"Bailey's finishing (was great), but I wasn't too happy with the way we played. I thought again they were just slow, and we didn't exactly break them down. We just won the ball in transition and did a good job in transition. So 3-0 was a bit of a flattering scoreline," Hill said. "It's good to get three points at home, but there's still a lot of things that were not right with the team and it does take players like Julianna to keep us in it, and she did a brilliant job but we shouldn't get to that point."

CASPER COLLEGE 1, NORTHWEST 0
The win on Friday meant the Trappers were looking for a third straight win against the Thunderbirds (5-2-2 overall, 3-0-2 Region IX).
Casper College took advantage of a slow opening half by the Trappers, putting in a shot on a corner kick that was unable to be cleared and taking a 1-0 lead 15 minutes into the game.
Northwest continued to hold the Thunderbirds in check, but was unable to find a tying goal and fell 1-0.
Despite the loss, Hill is hopeful the Trappers found something with their second half performance similar to last year's team at this time.
"I thought the first half again was pretty much a carry on of what we've been doing, which is slow and lethargic," Hill said. "But the second half I was pleased with them because they had a bit more fight to them. They had a bit more intensity about them, a bit more urgency to them. I think we're still not creating enough chances for me, but I think that the second half should be something to build upon."
"I remember this time last year against Western Wyoming we lost 2-1, and there was a change. There's a switch that flipped and I'm hoping that's the case with the women."

RIVERTON SATURDAY
The Trappers head on the road Saturday to take on Central Wyoming at 1 p.m. with the Trappers hoping to start their three game road swing strong against the Rustlers (4-4 overall, 3-2 Region IX).
"This is gonna be a really tough game for us on the road," Hill said. "Their pitch is never easy to play on. They've got some big, athletic girls. They haven't conceded a ton of goals. So they're going to be a tough game for us but an important one, because we need to get back on track after that loss against Casper."