Your future, our focus
Sanders Hospitalized Thursday, Plays Saturday
The Northwest College women’s soccer team didn’t find much on-field success, but head coach Rob Hill identified the Trappers’ most pressing need.
“The biggest problem that the girls have got is match fitness,” Hill said. “Therefore you can’t make those 10- and 15-yard sprints that you need. You need 15-yard recovery runs, and you need them to make 15-yard sprints into space. And we’re just not fit enough yet.”
The Trappers lost 4-0 to Rocky Mountain College in Cody on Saturday evening, and fell to the University of Great Falls 2-1 at home on Thursday.
Consecutive losses and a -5 goal-differential won’t weigh too heavily on the mind of Hill, who wants to see improvement, not perfection.
“These first few games I expect mistakes,” Hill said. “There’s going to be misunderstandings and there’s going to be misplayed passes and tackles. It’s all part and parcel of the learning process. “To be honest, the results don’t really matter. It’s getting the team on the field and starting to learn to work together.”
Northwest will get five days off to recover and apply those lessons for a rematch with Rocky at 4 p.m. on Friday in Billings.
The team heads to Bismarck, North Dakota, next Tuesday for an 11 a.m. scrimmage against the University of Mary.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 4, NORTHWEST 0
Hill hopes the Saturday shutout taught the Trappers what it takes to be competitive at the National Junior College Athletic Association level.
“This is what college soccer is,” Hill said. “Now that they’ve kind have had a taste for it we can get that buy-in so we can go where we need to as a program."
The Trappers' roster was limited due to health.
“We don’t have a huge squad right now because of illness and injuries,” Hill said.
That meant less substitutions and longer games for some Trappers, who were playing two matches in three days.
Hill said the team has to get used to short windows of recovery because the regular season features stretches of three games in five nights and back-to-back games.
“We need to spend the next couple weeks before we play Utah State University Eastern for the first game of the regular season … we got to get in better shape,” Hill said.
The lack of offense isn’t too concerning for Hill, who said Northwest hasn’t “really worked on anything tactical yet.”
The defense needs to be shored up but, like the offense, conditioning takes precedent.
“The goals conceded were just a couple silly mistakes. I’m not too concerned at the moment,” Hill said. “Once we get much fitter and stronger I feel like we’ll be able to be productive on both ends.”
GREAT FALLS 2, NORTHWEST 1
The Trappers could only answer one of the Argos’ two first-half goals during Saturday afternoon’s scrimmage in Powell.
It was the first game action of the season for the women’s team, which did not play an alumni game.
Hill said his team looked unprepared, and perhaps even a little nervous, in the first half, but started to show its potential as the game progressed.
“The first half was really slow and lacked the intensity you need to compete at the college level,” Hill said. “Second half, I was a lot happier. They weren’t getting bullied … we’ve got to learn to be physical and tougher on the ball.”
Taylor Meeks, a sophomore out of Lander, scored 22 minutes into the second half to cut Great Falls’ 2-0 lead in half.
Sophomore Barbara de Souza took the ball down the right wing and cut in toward the box when the Argos’ keeper committed to her, leaving Meeks wide open at the top of the box.
She found Meeks who sent the ball to the back of the net for Northwest’s only goal of the game.
The assist marked a welcome return for de Souza, who played for the Trappers in 2013, but did not play in 2014 in order to focus on her academics and strengthening her English skills.
Hill said de Souza’s assist was a sign of the offensive potential she brings to the team.
“She’s got to learn to work on the defensive end, but in terms of going forward she’s always a threat,” Hill said. “She’s always got a couple tricks up her sleeve.”
The Trappers nearly tied the game just minutes later when a ball shot from the right wing traveled past the diving Great Falls keeper and across the open goal mouth. No Trapper was close enough to bury the equalizer.
Northwest tried again when de Souza took a free kick from about five yards behind the box. Her shot curved around the Argos’ wall, but was caught by the goalie, who didn’t allow a rebound opportunity.
“She’s obviously a very technical player,” Hill said of de Souza. “She can find passes that are quite intricate and can do some damage. I’m pleased she’s coming back into the team and into the fold.”
The Argos first struck midway through the first half, and again with just 1:40 left until halftime.
SCARY MOMENT FOR SANDERS
Freshman Emily Sanders was helped off the field early in the second half on Thursday after spending approximately 20 minutes lying on the sidelines following heat sickness.
The defensive back from Idaho Falls, Idaho, was dehydrated, hyperventilated, and blacked out while being attended to by NWC staff.
An ambulance arrived, emergency personnel treated her along the sidelines behind the scorer’s table for approximately 20 minutes before lifting her on a stretcher into the ambulance.
Sanders’ legs could be seen shaking while on the ground, but she was cleared and released Thursday night.
“She played (in Cody). We didn’t play her a whole game, but she was fine,” Hill said. “It was just kind of a freak incident and it led to going to the hospital.”