We got hit by a freight train,” said Panthers head soccer coach Jeff Dent.

Dent’s quote summed up what turned out to be a long Tuesday afternoon for the young Panthers (1-3), as the top-ranked Warriors lived up to their billing in an 11-2 win.

“We came expecting Worland to play hard and be fast. But we did not expect that,” Dent said. “Their goalie could boom the ball 60 or 70 yards down the field, and when it bounced, it just kept going. Very hard to counter that. They were a fast, well-disciplined team.”

Worland scored early and often, taking a 9-1 lead into the half. Panther forward Rob Sessions accounted for the lone Powell score in that opening frame.

“Worland was really pushing a fast field,” Dent said. “Boot and chase is what you normally call it, but they had technical ability to go along with that. It wasn’t just boot and hope you catch up. Their coach has done a very good job with the men he has.”

The Panthers struggled to counter Worland’s attacking offense; every time the Powell coaching staff made an adjustment, the Warriors would adapt and play through.

“Nothing we did could stop the hemorrhaging,” Dent said. “We would get some ball control in the middle, start working it up the field very well. Then we’d get to the defense and lose the ball, and they would either boot it or send it in behind their mids, splitting our defense pretty quickly.”

The Panthers were on their heels from the outset, according to Dent, taking them out of the gameplan used so effectively against Riverton last week.

“Sometimes we were doing good, sometimes we were falling back, just running around the field,” Dent said. “It was an educational experience. The score was painful, but it was an excellent lesson to all of us — from the coaches down to the players. I just need to find what I need to work on to get the athletes back on track and keep them mentally going in the right direction.”

Despite the lopsided score, the game was not without a few positives. Coming into the contest, Worland had not given up a goal this season; Sessions and freshman forward Sam Bauer were able to end that streak. Dent was also pleased with the team’s one-touch, give and go passing.

“When we were doing that, we were able to split Worland’s defense, though not as often as I wanted,” he said. “That worked good in that it would spread their defense. There were a variety of plays going on, it just wasn’t as consistent as we needed it to be all the way across the field.”

Panther forward Luis Gutierrez had a couple of scoring opportunities, including one that beat the goalie but just went over the bar.

“He [Gutierrez] was setting himself up pretty good there in the middle,” Dent said.

Ten goals got past keeper Gabe Katz, though Dent said most were the result of good shots rather than bad positioning.

“They [Worland] would bring it down one line, then cross it over to the far side, kick it in over there,” Dent said. “They definitely had him on the move. But he’s been training with the college goalie, and that has helped him a lot with his positioning and movement.”

Freshman Ashton Brewer replaced Katz in the second half, recording four saves and allowing one goal against a lineup made of Worland’s bench and JV players.

“Ashton [Brewer] is a good goalie; he’s up and coming,” Dent said. “The team played all the way through. There was no giving up.”

The Panthers will have a week off from game action before returning April 6 for a tournament in Green River. Dent said he and his staff plan to stress the speed of the game with the players in the interim, and try to get them to practice at that speed.

“We’re going to work on some conditioning, but we’re also going to have a lot of scrimmages,” he said. “We’ll work on positional stuff so that they’re getting educated while they’re doing their physical training.”

“We need to play a smarter, more consistent game,” Dent added. “That will be a lot of our focus.”