TRAPPER MEN CONTINUE WINNING WAYS
Playing at home for the first time in the regular season, the Northwest College men’s soccer team extended its winning streak to four matches, defeating Central Wyoming College 4-1 on Saturday.
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
Playing at home for the first time in the regular season, the Northwest College men's soccer team extended its winning streak to four matches, defeating Central Wyoming College 4-1 on Saturday.
NORTHWEST 4, CENTRAL WYOMING 1
Playing against a Region IX foe in a nonconference match the Trappers (4-1) were hoping to maintain their form against the Rustlers (1-3-1) after entering the NJCAA national rankings earlier in the week.
Throughout the first half the Trappers had opportunities, starting with chances from a bad pass back and a quick counter attack which were put wide of the net.
Just before the break the Trappers missed two more chances, as the teams went into the half 0-0.
"I think pass execution in the final third was where we were having a bit of a breakdown, and then when we got ourselves in those positions, we were just a bit antsy about it and snatching at things," coach Rob Hill said.
Northwest came out continuing to attack, finally breaking through on a one-vs.-one opportunity with Josh Scroccaro putting the ball past the keeper in the 54th minute.
That sparked a quick scoring spree by the Trappers, as Jake Coltart fired home a shot just two minutes later to make it 2-0.
Coltart added one more to his tally, capping off a quick Trappers scoring burst and making it 3-0.
"We said let's get after them in the first 10-15 minutes, and see if we can capitalize on one and then two. By the time we looked at the clock, 15 minutes had gone and we were 3-0 up," Hill said. "They did what we asked them to do, and they upped the tempo. They upped the quality."
Central got a goal back in the 61st minute, squeezing a ball over the line on a corner kick to make it 3-1.
"I think the biggest disappointment was no clean sheet. A disappointing goal to concede. I thought it was sloppy because the guys wanted to go for four [shutouts] in a row," Hill said.
Coltart got his hat trick to finish the scoring with 17 minutes to go, finishing another strong run by the Trappers to make it 4-1.
"He's [Coltart] been looking for it. I think he's been hungry for goals," Hill said. "That was great for Jake. I was super happy for him because he's worked very hard in practice. So he got his reward."
Northwest finished the game with more shots than the Rustlers 10-3, running their win streak to four.
The Trappers earned a slight bump in the national rankings for a second straight week, moving up to the No. 12 spot following the win.
LONG ROAD TRIP
Following the conclusion of the nonconference season the Trappers now head on one of their longest trips of the season to southern Colorado to start Region IX play.
Northwest's first match will be against Otero (2-2-1 overall, 1-0 Region IX) at 1 p.m. on Friday, followed by a match against Trinidad State College (0-5 overall, 0-1 Region IX).
"It's going to be huge again, traveling 12 hours playing on a smaller pitch on turf against a very tough Otero team," Hill said. "I think these guys are up for the challenge … Probably one of the hardest games of our conference season."
Hill said the team is beginning to get some players back who suffered injuries to begin the year, improving the depth of the Trappers as they head into the main portion of the Region IX schedule.