Your future, our focus
Men and Women Each Earn a Pair of Victories
Northwest College soccer coach Rob Hill has lived and died by the word intensity this season.
When his teams have lacked it, Hill hasn’t been shy about pointing it out.
After both the NWC men and women posted dominating performances in consecutive matches last week, Hill couldn’t stop talking about intensity.
“Both teams really played well this week ... they were aggressive and played with a lot of intensity, a lot of passion,” he said. “I really couldn’t have asked for more.”
Hill’s positive attitude started with the Trapper women and men’s back-to-back shutouts of Sheridan College on Sept. 24.
The Lady Trappers spent most of the match in Sheridan’s half of the field, and the heavy pressure paid off early when Amberly Halstead found the Generals’ net in the 14th minute. Later in the first half, Rachel Lane saw her chance rebound into play near Shelby Daniels, who quickly turned the deflection into a 2-0 lead that held up for the NWC women.
“Two really good goals, including an opportunistic chance on Shelby’s goal,” Hill said. “We really put pressure on Sheridan and showed some aggression that I felt we had been lacking in the past.”
On Saturday, the Lady Trappers moved to 4-5 on the year with a 4-1 victory over Western Wyoming Community College. Hill wasn’t as impressed with his squad’s third straight victory, as two own goals by the Mustangs handed NWC a 2-1 lead without the Trappers doing anything offensively.
Halstead finally accounted for some NWC offense with a free kick with about 10 minutes to play in the match, and Alicia Pyeatt scored on an assist from Daniels in the 88th minute to finish out the scoring.
“The winning streak feels good,” Halstead said. “We’ve gotten tired of losing, and we went back to work in practice with a different attitude and I think that’s starting to show.”
After a three-game losing streak, the NWC men bounced back with a 2-0 victory of their own over Sheridan on Sept. 24.
It appeared early on that the Trappers were still feeling the effects of the three match funk that saw them get outscored 10-4. Scoring opportunities were scarce for NWC early on, as Sean McManamon’s near miss in the ninth minute accounted for his team’s first chance.
Things changed quickly though, as the Sheridan goalkeeper deflected Bryce Overcast’s shot, and Marco Guttierez came streaking through the air to sink a header for a 1-0 Trapper lead.
“We practice those situations a lot, those reaction opportunities,” Guttierez said. “Sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time, and I was just happy I reacted fast enough to score the ball.”
Later in the contest, Sheridan’s Chandler Rodriguez was penalized for a hard tackle on Javier Sanchez, who was sent flying to the ground. Sanchez, despite being shaken up, opted to take the awarded penalty kick himself, and made good on the opportunity, sneaking a hooking shot past netminder Jack Morris for a 2-0 lead.
“I just wanted to prove a point, I guess,” Sanchez said. “You get knocked down like that ... it feels good to bounce back and make the other team pay for it.”
The Trappers didn’t score again, but kept the heat on the visitors, out-shooting the Generals 29-9 for 90 minutes.
“We were in a bit of a bad stretch there, and we needed that win,” Hill said after the game. “We’re starting to get back to the team that I know we can and should be. This was definitely proof of that.”
The Trappers continued that transition with a 3-1 win Saturday.
Overcast scored on a Brayden Searle goal in the 19th minute to open the offense, and that lead stood up for the first half. In the 55th minute after the break, Sanchez’s corner kick sailed over the head of the Western Wyoming goal for a 2-0 Trapper lead, and Sam White pushed the lead to three with a score a minute later off a Sanchez assist. Western Wyoming’s lone goal came on a free kick near the end of the match.
“The guys have gotten emotionally and physically stronger,” Hill said. “They worked very hard against Western Wyoming, and really improved throughout the week.
“Both teams right now are improving and are starting to play soccer the way we had envisioned before the season began.”