Your future, our focus
Trapper Soccer Enters Post-Season on a Slide
BY RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
The Northwest College men’s and women’s soccer teams wrapped up their first regular seasons over the weekend with a series of one-sided defeats. The Trapper women dropped a 4-0 contest at nationally-ranked Laramie County Community College. The Trapper men also dropped a 4-0 contest at LCCC before also falling 3-1 at Otero.
Both teams will face LCCC in Region IX semifinal contests this Friday in Scottsbluff, Neb.
“The men’s team had their worst weekend of soccer since the start of the season,” said NWC head coach Rob Hill. “Complacency has set in. Practices have not been as intense as they were in the beginning of the season when they all had something to prove. It seems that we have won a few games, now we don’t have to work as hard and it was on full display this weekend.”
The Trappers fell behind 1-0 on a penalty kick against LCCC and later conceded an own-goal to fall behind 2-0 at the half. LCCC went on to surrender another two goals in the second half.
“The score line was not the thing that bothered me so much. It was the fact that we were giving the ball away so easily through careless passing and then not working hard to get the ball back,” Hill said. “It was apparent LCCC wanted the game more than us.”
The loss marked the first time this season that the Trappers failed to crack the scoreboard against an opponent.
Against Otero, the Trappers held their own for the first 30 minutes and took a one-goal lead with a penalty kick. Otero unleashed a fierce attack the final 15 minutes before intermission, but the Trappers weathered the storm for a 1-0 lead at the half.
“We were lucky to hold on to the lead,” said Hill. “Otero created a lot of clear chances and we could have quite easily gone into the half 3-1 down. It was extremely disappointing.”
Those chances eventually took their toll in the second half, quickly grabbing the equalizer and then tagging on two more goals to win pulling away.
“It was a very disappointing weekend for the men’s team,” Hill summarized. “We are working to resurrect before the regional tournament.”
The Trappers will enter that regional tournament trying to stop a three-game losing skid. Northwest is 7-4- 2 on the year.
The Trapper women had their own troubles on Friday as they faced an LCCC team ranked in the top 15 nationally. The game remained scoreless until LCCC knocked home a penalty kick in the 25th minute. Later in the half, the host school added a second goal for a 2-0 lead at intermission.
The second half brought more of the same. LCCC added two more goals to pound the final nail into an 0-6 regional campaign for Northwest College.
“I was proud of the way we came out against a nationally ranked team,” said Hill. “We have been getting better and better throughout the seasons, and we can see the results of that each week. We came out working hard in the second half. I just felt that we needed to calm down on the ball and not be so panicked as we had given the ball away unnecessarily in the first half.”
The Northwest College women, 2-8-1 this season, also face LCCC to begin regional tournament semifinal play on Friday.
Winners of Friday’s games advance to the Region IX championship game on Saturday. Only the region champion advances to the district level for a shot at a spot in the national tournament.