Lady Panther soccer competes against tough opponents

Posted 4/27/17

“That’s one thing this team has — is fight in them. They have a lot of fight,” said Powell High School head girls soccer coach Jack Haire. “Sometime it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. …

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Lady Panther soccer competes against tough opponents

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The Lady Panther soccer team went head-to-head with the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the state last week — Cody and Worland respectively. Losing both conference games has not dampened the spirit of the team or coaches toward the season end goal of making the state competition.

“That’s one thing this team has — is fight in them. They have a lot of fight,” said Powell High School head girls soccer coach Jack Haire. “Sometime it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. That’s why I still say we are a competing team, saying that even after losing to 1 and 2.”

Haire added that, when it comes to the state tournament, season records don’t matter at that point, as state is the start of a new season.

Cody 7, Powell 1

On April 20, the undefeated Fillies team traveled to Powell to play on the Lady Panthers’ home field.

In the first half, Powell played into a head-wind and Cody scored five of its seven goals.

Powell also scored in the opening half — with a goal by senior Kayla Atkinson, assisted by sophomore Jaya Smith.

“Kayla had a wonderful shot; it was just a beautiful setup. It was essentially a drill that we do,” said coach Haire. “She put a good foot on the ball.”

Heading into the contest, Cody had allowed only five goals in 10 games (one by Powell in a previous match-up, one from Worland and 4A Green River and two from Riverton).

“It was good to score on them, it was probably the one I’ll remember [from] my senior year,” Atkinson said, adding that, once she had heard that she scored the sixth goal of the year against Cody, she “was very proud of” herself.

Atkinson also thanked Smith for the assist.

“I love that Cody only has six goals scored against them and we have two of them,” said Haire, adding, “we didn’t get shut out by them this year, which feels kind of nice.”

Last season, Cody shut out Powell. In their prior encounter earlier this year, Cody won 8-1 — making last week’s result another improvement for the Lady Panthers.

“We played well,” said Haire. He said the team also learned where they can improve, such as on passing and communication.

“Some of our drills are being implemented; they are working,” said Haire.

Freshman Michele Wagner had 19 saves during the game.

Worland 10, Powell 0

On Saturday, Powell traveled to Worland and fell to the Lady Warriors, 10-0.

Powell has battled injuries this season and, with the score 6-0 at halftime, coach Haire decided to try some new things on the field.

One change was to put junior Treva Robson as goalie during the second half of the game. Robson was the fifth player to tend the goal thus far in the season.

“I was really nervous when [coach Haire] came up to me and was like, ‘Hey, you want to try something new?’ I was like sure,” said Robson, adding that it was “pretty stressful for the first time being goalie in a varsity game.”

Coach Haire said Wagner, who’d been playing goalie, is a difference-maker on the field and he’d like to keep her on the field.

After the varsity game, the Lady Panthers played a JV match-up against Worland, and Robson played goalkeeper in that contest as well.

In between the two games, the coaches gave Robson some goalkeeping pointers. She ended having a “great” game, pitching a shutout, Haire said.

The Powell JV team beat Worland 1-0.

“I didn’t think it was too bad afterwards,” said Robson of her first time as goalie, calling it a “fun experience.”

She said she may go out for goalie next season, but wants to think about it a little more before making a decision.

Atkinson predicted continued improvement for the Lady Panthers through the rest of the season.

“I think all the other teams are peaking right now and we are still coming to our peak,” she said. “We are only going to get better from here. For our playoff game, I think we are going to come out strong.”

Coach Haire agreed.

“We haven’t peaked yet — peak is playoff time,” he said.

On Friday, the Lady Panthers will host Riverton, with kickoff starting at 4 p.m. at Panther Stadium.

As for the injuries that the Lady Panthers have endured all season, “I would say that by game time Friday, we are 98 percent healthy,” Haire said.

The coach added that, with a healthy team, he’s very optimistic about the season-end goal of making it to state.

“It’s a good young team,” he said.

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