The final spot in the postseason will come down to the final weekend for Region IX, as the Northwest College women stayed in the mix by defeating Northeastern Junior College 3-1 on Friday and Lamar Community College 9-0 on Saturday to earn the weekend sweep in Colorado.

NORTHWEST 3, NORTHEASTERN 1

Starting in Sterling with the more difficult contest of the weekend the Trappers (4-3-5 Region IX, 4-2-3 Region IX) took on the Plainswomen (3-2-7 overall, 1-1-6 Region IX).

The Trappers got exactly what they needed on a hot day in a difficult place to play, using goals from Ellie Young, Payton Mund and Emma Vaughan to build a 3-0 lead before earning a 3-1 victory.

“I thought against Northeastern they played well,” coach Rob Hill said. “I thought it was a good battle, some good finishing from Peyton and Ellie. A well deserved win on a hot day, difficult pitch.”

NORTHWEST 9, LAMAR 0

Heading into Saturday the Trappers needed another win, and took on the winless Lopes (0-0-9 overall, 0-0-8 Region IX).

The Trappers got on the board early and often throughout the game, as Kali Bach led Northwest with a hat-trick in the contest.

Candy Michel Cerdas Mora added two goals for the Trappers, as Orla Kingsley, Kassidi Webb, Mund and Young had one goal each as Northwest finished with the 9-0 win and scored the final one just before the mercy rule was enforced 70 minutes into the game.

“The six points were vital. We knew that going in there. We knew we needed to set ourselves up for this (upcoming) weekend,” Hill said. “Lamar, I don’t know what’s going on with their team. They have nine players, so we quickly got to eight goals and called it early, so it was a bit unfair really. But it was a hot day, the girls kept the ball well. They played a high line, we got caught offside a few times, but once we figured that out we did a lot better.”

FINAL GAME

The Trappers return home for the final game of the regular season, as they need a win to put themselves in a strong position to make the postseason.

Northwest currently sits in seventh place in the Region IX standings, only behind Casper due to one more loss during the season.

Casper plays games on the road at Western Nebraska and Laramie County Community College this weekend, which currently sit in third and fifth in the standings.

If Casper loses both and Northwest gets any sort of result, the Trappers are in the postseason, if Casper gets a singular result and Northwest fails to match it, then the Thunderbirds will be in the postseason.

If neither team gets a win or tie this weekend, then it will come down to tiebreakers.

Northwest hosts the team currently in second in the standings at 2 p.m. on Saturday, as the Trappers will take on Western Wyoming Community College (8-2-5 overall, 6-1-1 Region IX).

“This weekend means everything against Western. They’ve done well, they’re second again. They’re always in the hunt,” Hill said. “Big team … They’ll be a big test for us … Hopefully they can do it. We’ve got the team to do it. We’ve shown that against Casper and Gillette, so hopefully we can get a result and then go into postseason play.”

REGION IX STANDINGS

(Overall record then conference record, Wins-Draws-Losses)

1. Gillette College 10-3-0 overall, 7-1-0 Region IX

2. Western Wyoming — 8-2-5 overall, 6-1-1 Region IX

3. LCCC — 5-2-5 overall, 5-1-2 Region IX

4. Central Wyoming — 7-3-3 overall, 6-2-1 Region IX

5. Western Nebraska — 5-3-4 overall, 4-3-1 Region IX

6. Casper College — 6-3-4 overall, 4-2-2 Region IX

7. Northwest — 4-3-5 overall, 4-2-3 Region IX

8. Northeastern JC 3-2-7 overall, 1-1-6 Region IX

9. Otero College — 1-2-8 overall, 1-1-6 Region IX

10. Lamar CC 0-0-9 overall, 0-0-8 Region IX

11. Trinidad State — 0-0-13 overall, 0-0-8 Region IX