The Powell High School girls’ soccer team put on a dominant display at home to end the regular season and  defeat the Cody Fillies 3-1 to tie for the 3A West Conference title. Following tiebreakers and a coin flip the Panthers claimed the No. 1 seed heading into the state tournament this weekend in Gillette.

“I was very proud of the ladies. I felt we built on our play from the previous matchup and came in with less nerves,” coach Danny Agee said. “Every member of the team upped their game during that match. It was a great showing.”

POWELL 3, CODY 1

In a rematch of a game that went down to the wire a month ago the Panthers (13-1 overall, 9-1 3A West) welcomed in the Fillies (12-1 overall, 9-1 3A West).

Powell had the best opportunity to score early, as a strong sequence of play led to an Ava Gilliatt shot on goal, and the ball was eventually scrambled away by the Fillies to keep it 0-0 after 17 minutes.

Cody got on the board first, as a long shot from 40 yards out hit perfectly in the top corner with 18 minutes left as the Panthers went down 1-0.

Powell answered just six minutes later, as a strong sequence between Emery Hernandez and Ivy Agee was slotted home to the far post by Hernandez to tie the game 1-1.

Hernandez doubled her tally just three minutes later, as a nearly identical shot found its way into the net to make it a 2-1 advantage for the Panthers.

“We have been building to this level of possession for a couple years now and we are finally maintaining it under high pressure from good teams,” coach Agee said. “Our first two goals came from maintaining possession in the final third which has been more of a focus lately. I was very happy to see them execute in such a big game.”

Cody nearly answered a minute later on a corner, but the ball was scrambled off the line by the Panthers to maintain their 2-1 lead.

Powell extended the lead to 3-1, as Agee fired a shot into the back of the net with four minutes left to go up two goals at the half.

The Panthers had their chances to add to the lead in the second half, and stifled the potent Filly attack led by Cody junior Grace Hays to keep it 3-1.

“Grace is a strong athlete and has the ability to really take over a game,” coach Agee said. “I think the ladies learned a lot in our last contest and worked to control the space better this time around. It really helped offset her speed. Our focus is to also have the ball all the time so as to limit other teams’ attacking chances and I think that was a factor in Friday’s game.”

That score led to a series of tiebreakers, but the Panthers and Fillies were tied on every single tiebreaker in the 3A West tiebreaking criteria.

That included an undefeated record against everybody else in the state, as well as splitting against each other in the regular season, and each team conceding eight goals the entire conference schedule.

It came down to a coin flip, with the Panthers earning the No. 1 seed by the WHSAA on Sunday.

STATE TOURNAMENT

The Panthers now head to Gillette with their sights set on bringing home a state championship for the first time in school history.

Powell’s path begins with a rematch of the first game from last year as the Panthers take on the No. 4 seed from the 3A East in Rawlins (8-4 overall, 6-4 3A East).

“The focus is basically always the same. I want them to run, run, run and dominate the possession,” coach Agee said. “Nothing changes from one game to the next. What’s impressive about these ladies is that they all keep growing and stepping up their individual performances which makes the team a stronger unit. This is a special group of young ladies.”

That game will be at 2 p.m. on Thursday, with the winner moving on to face the winner of the east No. 2 seed Douglas (7-7 overall, 7-3 3A East) and the west No. 3 seed Lander (10-4 overall, 6-4 3A West) matchup at 2 p.m. on Friday.

The loser of those contests will play at 9 a.m. on Friday; all contests on Thursday and Friday will be at the Energy Capital Sports Complex, with Saturday games being held at the complex as well as Campbell County High School and the state championship game 11 a.m. at Thunder Basin High School.