TRAPPER WOMEN'S SOCCER SPLITS ROAD GAMES

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Finishing up the final weekend of a month-long road trip to start the regular season, the Northwest College women's soccer team split games against Region IX opponents, losing 2-1 to Otero College on Friday before cruising past Trinidad State College 8-0 on Saturday.      

OTERO 2, NORTHWEST 1
Making the trip to southwestern Colorado the Trappers (2-3-1 overall, 1-2 Region IX) were hoping to earn their first Region IX win against the Rattlers (1-4 overall, 1-2 Region IX).

The Trappers missed a number of chances in the first half, but got on the board late before the halftime whistle through Elli Lewis.

Lewis received the ball on the left wing and dribbled more than 20 yards and fired home a shot across the frame of the goal to the far post to make it 1-0 as Northwest held that lead going into the break.

"We scored first with Elli, we missed a lot of chances but I still just feel like we're playing without any conviction or any kind of pace," coach Rob Hill said. "We looked slow on the ball, we weren't moving fast, we weren't moving to open spaces … Got the first goal. I thought … if we really step on the gas we can get another one. And we didn't. We backed off and we let them back in the game."

Otero started off strong, getting back into the game when a Rattler took a shot from 25 yards out that went over the outstretched hand of Trapper keeper Juliana Hidalgo to tie the game five minutes into the second half.

"She was their best player … We didn't get in front of her, we didn't get close to her. But then Juliana could have done better with it. She jumped with one arm where I think she can just move her feet and caught it with two. She was going for the outlandish save where we didn't really need it."

The Rattlers finished their comeback less than 20 minutes into the second half, adding another goal on a shot from just outside the 18 yard box to the far post to make it 2-1 with 25 minutes left.

Despite trailing, Hill felt the Trappers could come back, but they were unable to find a second gear to get back in the contest. 

"The momentum did shift a little bit, but even 2-1 down I thought we were good enough to come back and get back in the game," Hill said. "But a lack of conviction, lack of belief, lack of competitiveness. It's frustrating, because there is some talent and skill on this team, but it's just the mentality, the competitiveness, the willingness to run and do the fundamental things of winning a game … It's all those things that if you haven't got that grit mentality, these girls are struggling to find that for whatever reason. Maybe it's a step up for some of the freshmen. It's hard to watch, because we're capable of more."      

NORTHWEST 8, TRINIDAD 0
After the loss Friday the Trappers continued to Trinidad to take on the Trojans (0-6 overall, 0-3 Region IX) hoping to pick up one win on the road.

Northwest scored early and often in the contest, building a 3-0 lead in the first half and never looking back.

The Trappers were paced by a hat trick from Lewis, while Amelia Grace Franklin added two of her own as Northwest cruised to an 8-0 win.

"Trinidad I felt like we came out better. It was one of those games where the pitch was terrible, six inches long gross, sloppy, muddy and wet," Hill said. "I expected us to win, but in the second half we kind of turned it on … It could have been done at halftime if we'd have finished our chances. We got 20 minutes into the half with the new mercy rule."      

RETURNING HOME
The Trapper women have been out on the road the entirety of the regular season following preseason scrimmages at home, and they will finally return home for a pair of Region IX contests.

Those start with a game against Gillette College (5-4 overall, 1-2 Region IX) at 2 p.m. on Friday before taking on Casper College (3-2-2 overall, 1-0-2 Region IX) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

"I hope we can rise to the occasion, because if we're going to be in the hunt and be serious contenders we can't afford to drop any more points than we already have," Hill said. "We're already way behind the eight ball … These girls have got to find it within themselves to kind of rise up and come to compete. Otherwise it's going to be a short season for them. Long in terms of patience, but short in terms of just being finished. I hope they can step up and start to compete like we need to otherwise it's going to be disappointing."