NWC MEN SPLIT CONFERENCE OPENERS
The Northwest College men’s soccer team split a pair of games on a difficult road trip, losing 5-1 to Otero College on Friday before rebounding for a 3-0 win on Saturday against Trinidad State College.
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
The Northwest College men's soccer team split a pair of games on a difficult road trip, losing 5-1 to Otero College on Friday before rebounding for a 3-0 win on Saturday against Trinidad State College.
OTERO 5, NORTHWEST 1
Going on their longest road trip of the conference season the Trappers (5-2 overall, 1-1 Region IX) matched up with the Rattlers (4-2-1 overall, 3-0 Region IX).
Northwest came out on the front foot, trying to find an early goal against the Rattlers.
Otero settled in, finding the back of the net first in the 24th minute. A miscommunication led to a header at the back post on a free kick, which went across the frame of the goal and was tapped in to make it 1-0.
"I thought the first 10 minutes we were very good. Played some excellent football and then we kind of dropped off for another 30," coach Rob Hill said. "I thought it was very sloppy on our end for the first goal, very uncharacteristic confusion … Then we didn't finish the chances we had."
That score held going into the halftime break, before the Rattlers extended their lead.
The Rattlers added another goal in the 51st minute, before an own goal in the 56th minute extended the misery for the Trappers to make it 3-0.
Northwest got one back in the 63rd minute when Jake Coltart converted a penalty kick following a hand ball in the box. But the Rattlers immediately found a way to extend the lead again.
That came when the Trapper keeper handled the ball outside the box, and the ensuing free kick curled around the wall and into the net to make it 4-1 a minute after Northwest got its goal.
One final goal came in the 67th minute, and despite the Otero goalkeeper getting a red card for a foul with 10 minutes remaining in the match, the Trappers were unable to find a way back in the 5-1 defeat, snapping their four game winning streak.
"Everything we'd done up to this point to get success went out the window, and we looked like a very average team, it was extremely disappointing," Hill said. "Once you could see the shoulders drop, it was very hard to get out of that funk. Sometimes you need those lessons."
Northwest fell to No. 18 in the NJCAA rankings following the defeat, while Otero surged to join the Trappers in the rankings at No. 15 as the only two ranked Region IX teams.
"We just chose to have 11 players on the pitch at a time. We just couldn't put it together, there was no chemistry there," Hill said. "We couldn't connect passes. We couldn't get out. To be fair to Otero they were a good team. They caused us a lot of problems, they made it difficult for us. Then we were just flat, so not a very flattering scoreline."
NORTHWEST 3, TRINIDAD 0
Continuing the road trip to take on the Trojans (0-7 overall, 0-3 Region IX) on Saturday, the Trappers looked for a quicker start to get on the front foot.
Northwest got that start, as Jack Kuspert returned from injury and fired home a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box inside the first minute to give Northwest the 1-0 lead.
The Trappers got one more in the first half through a corner kick that was turned in at the back post, helping Northwest get that strong start and a 2-0 halftime lead.
"Against Trinidad the first half I thought we were very good," Hill said. "Changed the whole back line, put a new back line in, new keeper and different personnel up front. I thought we did some really good stuff … That (Jack goal) set a good tone."
Northwest got one more goal in the second half through a penalty put in by Shay Lonergan to earn the 3-0 win.
"I thought the second half we were flat, it was disappointing that we didn't continue the same level of soccer," Hill said.
HOME GAMES
Northwest returns home after the long road trip to continue Region IX play, starting with a game against Gillette College (0-2-4 overall, 0-2 Region IX) at 4 p.m. on Friday.
The Trappers then welcome in Casper College (4-0-2 overall, 2-0 Region IX) which is coming off a pair of wins against Laramie County Community College and Western Nebraska Community College.
"They're always tough. We haven't lost at home in two years in conference play, so that's something I want to keep up," Hill said. "We've got to be at our best again."