Your future, our focus
The season is only a few weeks in, but the Northwest College women’s soccer team has already won three more games than it did the past two seasons combined.
Northwest was victorious three of its first seven games after going winless in 2017 and 2018.
The Lady Trappers opened the season with a 6-2 win over Treasure Valley Community College and on Sept. 7 they took down Central Wyoming 3-1.
Last weekend, NWC beat Central Nebraska 2-1 and lost 7-0 to Northeast Nebraska.
The team has four returners from last season including former Cody players Alexa Prosceno, Rebecca Brantz, Genevieve Sauers and Jules Novakovich.
Sapirah Broussard, from Albuquerque, N.M., leads the team with two goals and one assist.
A big part of the change must be attributed to new interim coach Aaron Miller, who comes to NWC most recently from NCAA Division III school Plymouth State University in New Hampshire where he was an assistant. He also previously coached at Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado for six seasons.
The women will play at home this weekend with a 1 p.m. Friday game against Laramie County Community College and a 1 p.m. Saturday match versus Western Wyoming.
The men’s team is off to an even hotter start, posting a 5-1-1 record and a two-game sweep in Nebraska last weekend. The Trappers beat Central Nebraska 2-1 in OT and Northeast Nebraska 1-0.
Against Central, Jamaican Tumekie Blackwood scored the game-winner, while against Northeast it was Japanese player Haruki Yamazaki with the lone goal. Of the team’s school record 32 players, 15 are international.
Interim coach Ben McArthur said he wants his team to play with an aggressive, fast-paced style, emblematic of the soccer played in many other parts of the world.
“I want to recruit players who fit into the system we want to play here,” McArthur said. “I specifically recruited players from historically technical countries when it comes to soccer.”
McArthur comes to Northwest from Iowa, where he coached soccer at two different four-year schools.
Having recruited Northwest players and many others in the JUCO ranks, McArthur knows what it takes to mold players for the next level.
“How can I get the most of them and continue them onto the next level? That’s my goal to figure out,” McArthur said.
Moving players up and out, he said, will inherently breed wins and an improving scale of new recruits.
“I believe it goes hand-in-hand,” McArthur said. “When you have a winning season coaches call you and players want to play for you.”
Alejandro Fernandes, one of last season’s top players, leads the Trappers with two goals and five assists.
The Trappers will play at home this weekend, with a 3 p.m. Friday game against LCCC and a 3 p.m. Saturday match against Western Wyoming.
Saturday is youth day and all children who attend will have the chance to play soccer on Trapper Field at halftime.