TRAPPER MEN UNBEATEN ON THE ROAD

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Important points on the road have put the Northwest College men's soccer team in prime position to earn a postseason berth, after the Trappers tied at Laramie County Community College 1-1 on Friday and defeated Western Nebraska Community College 3-0 in a weather shortened contest on Saturday.
"A really good weekend for both men's and women's teams. Ten points out of a possible 12," coach Rob Hill said.

NORTHWEST 1, LCCC 1
Heading to Cheyenne on Friday the Trappers (7-4-1 overall, 3-3-1 Region IX) matched up with the Golden Eagles (5-4-2 overall, 4-3-2 Region IX) and needed a result to help boost their postseason cause.
"There were seven different starters from when we played Central," Hill said. "Twelve of the guys hadn't played a competitive match for two weeks. You could clearly tell that there was an element of rust there. We gave the ball away a lot."
Northwest got on the board first, when Trapper keeper Callum Smith hit a long ball which was wrangled in by Shota Akima who found Jake Coltart, and Coltart fired it in the near post to give Northwest a 1-0 lead just 15 minutes into the game.
The Golden Eagles found an equalizer later in the first half.
"The goal we conceded was poor to be honest," Hill said.
The Trappers had more opportunities to reclaim the lead, but were unable to find a winning goal and the match ended 1-1.     

NORTHWEST 3, WESTERN NEBRASKA 0
Continuing on to Scottsbluff on Saturday the Trappers took on the Cougars (3-6-5 overall, 3-4-2 Region IX).
Northwest got on the board first when Shay Lonergan received a ball from Sora Taenaka and sprinted up the right wing, opening up for the left footed finish at the far post to make it 1-0 just over 21 minutes into the game.
"We switched the point of attack, it was Sora with a brilliant ball to the weak side for Shay and then Shay slotted it away," Hill said.
Lonergan added a second just before the break, finishing in a similar style on a pass from Axel Lopez to make it 2-0 three minutes prior to halftime.
Northwest got an advantage at the break, as a Cougar player struck a Trapper and earned a red card to give Northwest the 11 vs. 10
advantage.
The Trappers capped off the scoring through Oziel Adrian Escobed, who fired in a far post shot on a well-worked free kick routine to make it 3-0 before the game was called after the 70th minute due to weather.
"Oziel came in, it was a little set piece that they did. It was a brilliant free kick but they didn't play direct. They played two passes with a brilliant finish, one of the best I've seen," Hill said. "He hit it as slow as you can imagine. So clever."    

POSTSEASON PUSH
Northwest now returns home to wrap up the regular season with a simple path to the postseason: Earn at least one point and advance, or win two matches and earn a postseason home match.
The Trapper men sit alone in sixth place with 10 points, just one behind Western Nebraska and four behind LCCC, which do not have any more conference games.
If Northwest wins both matches it will pass the Golden Eagles and likely host them in the first round. The Trappers have a small chance of passing Central Wyoming to take the No. 3 seed into the postseason, but will likely earn the 4-6 seed.
Northwest starts with a match against Lamar Community College (0-14 overall, 0-7 Region IX) at 4 p.m. on Friday, before taking on the team just behind them in the standings in Northeastern Junior College (3-6-2 overall, 2-4-1 Region IX) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
"The guys are in a good spot. They've had a bit of a blip, and now they're back in the hunt for a postseason game at home if they obviously perform and do well," Hill said. "Looks like we're back on track."    

REGION IX MEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS
(Overall record followed by points then conference record and points)
1. Casper College 9-1-2, 29 points; 7-0, 21 points
2. Otero College 8-4-1, 25 points; 6-1, 18 points
3. Central Wyoming 6-5, 18 points; 5-3, 15 points
4. LCCC 5-4-2, 17 points; 4-3-2, 14 points
5. Western Nebraska CC, 3-6-5, 14 points; 3-4-2, 11 points
6. Northwest 7-4-1, 22 points; 3-3-1, 10 points
7. Northeastern JC 3-6-2, 11 points; 2-4-1, 7 points
8. Trinidad State College 2-11, 6 points; 2-5, 6 points
9. Gillette College 2-5-4, 10 points; 2-5, 6 points
10. Lamar CC 0-14, 0 points; 0-7, 0 points