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NWC Wins Two, Draws One To Wrap Regular Season
The Northwest College women’s soccer team defeated Western Wyoming and Colorado Black, and drew a contest against Colorado Gold to wrap up the regular season with an 11-6-1 record. The Trappers host Western Wyoming again on Saturday to open post-season tournament play.
In their final Region IX game of the season last Wednesday, the Trapper women endured a 50 mile per hour gale in Rock Springs to post a 3-0 victory.
“It was blowing the length of the field,” said Trapper coach Kaylin Olivias. “One half you had it at your back and the other you were running into it for a full 45 minutes. We just tried to keep the ball low and pass it around them.”
Ultimately, that strategy proved successful as the Trappers scored five minutes into the action on an
unassisted goal by Charlie Streek. Northwest also celebrated an unassisted goal in the 37th minute as Samhia Simao deposited the ball into the net to build upon her single-season and career scoring records at Northwest College with a goal.
Simao added a goal in the 87th minute for the Trappers to give the game its final score. Leeann Payne assisted on the strike. With the win, the Trappers wrapped up a 6-4 campaign in Region IX this season.
Over the weekend, the Trappers journeyed to Boulder for a pair of non-region games against University of Colorado club teams. The Trappers began with a game against Colorado Gold, the Buffs’ top club team. The Trappers played to a 1-1 draw after surrendering a goal in the 38th minute and fighting throughout the second half until Simao drove a Rickie Ryan pass past the goalkeeper in the 89th minute to knot the scoreboard. Neither team was able to do anything in overtime to leave the game level.
Northwest also fell behind Saturday against Colorado Black. After a scoreless first half, the UC Black squad cracked the scoring column with a penalty kick goal in the 50th minute.
The Trappers leveled the score in the 65th minute as the Payne-to-Simao combination linked up again. In the 82nd minute, Simao gave the Trappers their first lead in Boulder with a goal off a Haley Ahrenholtz assist. Freshman Cassidy Aguilar closed the scoring for Northwest College three minutes later with a goal off a Simao assist.
“It was a battle for both teams, and it was good to see that they wanted it and were competing for it,” Olivas said of Saturday’s regular-season finale.
“We spent the week seeing what works,” Olivas said of her team’s final action before the Region IX tournament. “We’ll go into this week looking to maintain our fitness level and show up the same as any game on Saturday, looking to win.”
The Trappers, who hold a pair of wins over Western Wyoming this season, host the Mustangs in an 11 a.m. contest. The winner advances to the district tournament, where they will join Laramie County, Otero and North Idaho.
“They’re doing it totally differently compared to past years,” Olivas said of the postseason, which formerly would have seen the Region IX teams gather for a regional tournament. “Otero and LCCC, the top two seeds from our region, advance automatically to the district tournament. North Idaho comes in as the No. 3 seed, and we’re playing Western Wyoming for the No. 4 seed.”