The Powell Panther girls’ soccer team put together a dominant opening performance at the Pinnacle Cup in Worland on Friday, defeating Torrington 8-0 before a comeback 2-1 win over Douglas. That was before a scoreless Saturday saw Powell draw 0-0 against Buffalo before losing 4-2 in a shootout and losing 4-0 against Green River in the third place game.

POWELL 8, TORRINGTON 0

It took less than a minute for the Panthers (3-2) to get on the board against the Blazers (0-3), with Ivy Agee getting the opening goal.

She got her second just a minute later, making it 2-0 before Emery Hernandez added one to make it 3-0 inside the first seven minutes.

Agee completed her hat trick before halftime, and Melanie Garcia added another to make it 5-0 in favor of the Panthers at the break.

Ava Gilliatt added to the scoreline midway through the second half, before Sage Kidd and Emma Johnson got their first goals of the season to make the final score an 8-0 rout over the Blazers.

“The ladies did well against Torrington and we were able to spread the scoring around and that helps everyone gain more experience and comfort in front of the goal,” coach Danny Agee said.

POWELL 2, DOUGLAS 1

In the quarterfinals the Panthers then matched up with the Bearcats (2-1) in a rematch of the consolation final from last year’s state tournament.

“Even though the games are shortened, they are not that much shorter than a regular game and so playing Douglas a couple hours later was a big obstacle,” coach Agee said.

Douglas got on the board first in the contest, but Powell had an answer.

Agee answered with two goals, helping Powell avenge its loss over the Bearcats and move into the semifinals.

“Douglas is a good team and it was their [Douglas’] first game of the day so I was very proud of the ladies for fighting from behind to get the win,” coach Agee said.

BUFFALO 0, POWELL 0 (4-2 SO)

After the win on Friday, the Panthers matched up once again against a team they faced at the state tournament last year in the Bison (2-2) on Saturday.

Powell came out and dominated each facet of the game from start to finish, holding more possession and creating more opportunities than the Bison.

But the Panthers couldn’t find a finishing touch in 60 minutes and the game went to a shootout.

“I was very proud of the ladies, we moved the ball very well and pressured quickly on turnovers,” coach Agee said. “We managed to lock Buffalo into their own half for nearly the entire game and created many goal scoring opportunities through quality play. We were just unable to find the net.”

In the shootout the Panthers eventually fell 4-2, dropping Powell down to the third place game.

“It was awesome getting the experience of the shootout this early in the year,” Agee said. “Unfortunately, Buffalo came out on top this time. Working on penalties in training is never as good as the pressure of the real thing so it was beneficial … Can’t beat fate; we won that game in every other area and right now that is all that matters.”

GREEN RIVER 4, POWELL 0

In the third place game, the Panthers came up against a familiar foe in the Wolves (2-1), who Powell will see twice in the 3A West this season.

With the game having no bearing on the conference standings, Powell played without Agee for a majority of the contest due to an injury she suffered in the Douglas contest.

Powell continued to work and play the way it had been, but the Panthers were unable to overcome two goals in each half by Green River in a 4-0 defeat.

“We have such a great group of ladies and all the players on the bench were positive and supportive of the team the entire tournament,” coach Agee said. “It was great to be able to get them on the field in the Green River game and give them experience against a varsity level team. They tried to work the ball the way we have been in practice and it will only get better with time.”

SMALL BREAK

An early season break will allow the Panthers to recover from the four games over two days and continue improving before their next action on the field next week.

“So far our focus has been the build up through the back line and into the midfield,” coach Agee said. “After a little recovery we will start working on connecting better in the final third and hopefully we can see that come together in our game against Cody.”

That contest against Cody is next Tuesday, April 2, in the first home contest of the season at 3 p.m. against the Fillies (2-0) who were idle this past weekend. 

Both Powell and Cody are 1-0 in conference action after defeating Pinedale the opening weekend of the season.