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Losses To WNCC, Northeastern, End Playoff Hopes
Like their counterparts on the men’s side, the Northwest College women’s soccer team needed a win over the weekend to have a shot at making the Region IX tournament.
It wasn’t in the cards, but not for a lack of trying. Playing with a full complement of starters plus a few options on the bench for one of the few times this season, the Lady Trappers (3- 12, 1-8 in Region IX) played some their best soccer. Despite losing 5-0 Friday to Northeastern Junior College (8-6, 5-5 in Region IX) and 4-2 Saturday to Western Nebraska (11-3, 7-3 in Region IX), NWC head coach Aaron Miller said the scores could be misleading if you weren’t there to see the games.
“The scores don’t really reflect how well the girls were playing,” Miller said. “They’ve improved, and it was fun soccer to watch. We just continue to have these little blips on the radar defensively — conceding easy goals. It’s something we’ve addressed the past few weeks, just not working out for us.”
Friday’s game against NJC was a must-win for the Lady Trappers; Miller said the team put a lot of emphasis on the match. The Plainswomen scored three goals in the first half and two in the second for the 5-0 win, though NWC was not without its chances. Freshman Ali Krediet had one shot in the first half that appeared to be an easy score before clanging off the post.
“A couple of things didn’t bounce our way, and I think the girls got a little frazzled by that,” Miller said. “If we had scored on one of those early chances, it would have changed the whole tempo of the game.”
The Lady Trappers came out determined Saturday against Western Nebraska.
“The girls were really battling in that one — getting physical, getting tough,” Miller said. “I told the girls they would be playing better soccer in October, and they were. They were out there colliding bodies, moving the ball around and being gamers.”
The Lady Cougars led 2-0 at the half, but NWC was intent on making it a game. Freshman forward Sapirah Broussard — a two-sport athlete who will soon be suiting up for the Lady Trappers basketball team — fired a long shot on goal in the game’s 66th minute that caught the Western keeper out of position to halve the lead 2-1.
“She [Broussard] loves hitting those long-range shots,” Miller said. “She’s transitioning over to basketball, and I was joking with [NWC women’s basketball coach Cam] Levett to not let her take it to the hoop in practice. But that’s how she plays both sports: She just wants to get the ball in the net.”
Western added two more goals to push the lead to 4-1, though with 10 minutes left, Krediet got an unassisted shot to the back of the net to make it 4-2.
“She [Krediet] was anxious, she really wanted to get a goal,” Miller said. “She wanted to send her parents off with a goal, and she’s got a pretty good shot as well. I kept telling the girls to get closer, but they kept taking long-range shots. But hats off to her, she hit a scorcher.”
With a roster low on numbers and decimated by injuries, it’s been a struggle for the Lady Trappers to field a competitive side this season. Last weekend’s effort was a sampling of how good this team had the potential to be had they stayed healthy.
“After having played so many games a man down, when they finally had some subs on the bench, they were feeling pretty inspired,” Miller said. “They were definitely motivated.”
The Lady Trappers will close out their season at Central Wyoming (1-13, 0-9 in Region IX) in Riverton on Saturday. Miller said he hopes the enthusiasm the team played with last weekend will carry over.
“They were just having fun, flying around, battling,” he said. “I asked them after Saturday’s game if they had fun, and they said, ‘Yeah, yeah, it was great!’ So we’ll go into this match with that same idea.”