MEN'S SOCCER CONTINUES HOT START

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Two more wins on the road including another over a ranked team moved the Northwest College men's soccer team to 3-1 after August, using an 8-0 win over Pacific Northwest Christian College and a 1-0 win over ranked North Idaho College to catapult to No. 13 in the nation.     

NORTHWEST 8, PACIFIC NORTHWEST 0
Back on the road on Friday the Trappers (3-1) took on the Gladiators (0-2-4), where the Trappers struggled early before a flurry of goals allowed Northwest to rest key players before its Saturday matchup.

Northwest was unable to find the back of the net for much of the first half, before an own goal helped spark a scoring flurry.

Just over 3:30 minutes after that own goal, Sora Taenaka and Jake Coltart added goals to make it 3-0 just before halftime.

"We went in 3-0 at the half, but it was just slow. It was just a little bit too easy," coach Rob Hill said. "Made some changes in the second half and the tempo changed immediately."

Shay Lonergan added a goal in the 65th minute and Josh Scroccaro added another in the 75th to make it 5-0.

Josh Hatton added goals in the 83rd and 86th minutes before Djordy Lefevere capped the scoring in the 88th to give Northwest the 8-0 win.

"In the second half I was very pleased. We created a lot of chances, it could have been 10 or 12 [goals scored]," Hill said.       

NORTHWEST 1, NORTH IDAHO 0
Continuing on to Coeur d'Alene Saturday the Trappers matched up with the Cardinals (4-1) in what proved to be a physical contest until the end.

Throughout the contest a number of yellow cards were handed out as the teams committed a total of 22 fouls, 14 by North Idaho and eight by Northwest.

On a shorter field, Hill knew the Trappers had to be smart in the chances they created because any counter-attack would allow the Cardinals to get to their goal quickly.

Hill felt the Trappers were better at moving into space, and creating more clear cut opportunities, while the Cardinals attempted to use height to attack the Trappers late.

"Towards the end they resorted to putting a big 6 [foot] 5 guy up front and just launching balls forward which we dealt with very easily," Hill said. 

It came down to one final chance for Northwest in the 89th minute, when Harry Lloyd put an off-balance chance past the keeper who was out of position.

"The keeper was caught out of position and we put the ball over his head to score in the last minute," Hill said. "Brilliant, I thought anything other than a win we would have been really disappointed … These guys don't quit. That's one of the characteristics of last year was they would go one or two goals down and fight back into games. Now, our pride is to prevent goals and really put everything on the line to stop a goal. We've had three clean sheets in a row now, which means more to me than anything. I'd win games 1-0 all day long. If we get the nil, we've got a chance."     

NATIONAL RANKING
The Trappers woke up Tuesday to a pleasant surprise, as the hard work for their early season efforts paid off, being ranked in the second NJCAA poll of the year.

"We got the bonus of being ranked 13th which is great, it's nice to get recognized," Hill said. "I think it's good for Region IX to get recognized, because we've beaten some top opponents. The biggest thing for us now is not necessarily focused on any rankings. Can we maintain a level of consistency? Don't let it get to our heads, and can we maintain the level of performance and standard in practice and in games? That's the biggest challenge now is not even thinking about ranking. Just keep plugging along and getting the results and trying to compete every week."    

HOME GAME SATURDAY
The Trappers return home Saturday, hosting Central Wyoming College (1-2-1) at 2 p.m.

Hill knows the Rustlers will bring everything they can to Trapper Field, aiming to beat the Trappers despite it being a nonconference game between the Region IX opponents.

"They will be tough," Hill said. "They've played some tough opponents and it's down to individual mistakes and they'll get better. They'll keep getting better, they'll be hard working. They'll press us and if we're not ready for them, they'll cause us problems. We know that they're going to come up here and give us a heck of a game."