Two different opponents led to two drastically different scorelines but the same results on the road for the Powell Panther girls’ soccer team, which remained undefeated after beating Lander 1-0 on Friday and cruising past Pinedale 6-0 on Saturday.

The Friday win was the first ever for the Panthers on the road at Lander since the varsity program began in 2002.

POWELL 1, LANDER 0

In a matchup against the defending state champions the Panthers (6-0 overall, 4-0 3A West) were hoping to dictate the pace of the match from the start against the Tigers (3-2 overall, 1-2 3A West).

“Our goal was to press the Lander midfield line as much as possible as well as try to maintain possession further up the field to keep it away from the Lander forwards,” coach Danny Agee said.

Throughout much of the first half the Panthers did just that, limiting the hosts to shots from tough angles or long range efforts that were collected by keeper Josie Hallock.

“The ladies were able to do a pretty good job with this (tactic) and limited most shots to angles that were easier for our keeper,” Agee said.

Powell had its chances through longer shots, but couldn’t find a way to get one into the back of the net as the teams were deadlocked at 0-0 heading into halftime.

The second half brought more of the same for both teams, until Powell finally got its breakthrough with just under 11 minutes left.

Ivy Agee’s corner kick found its way to the back post and Coy Erickson’s foot.

Her shot was saved off the line by the Tigers but bounced right back to Agee just inside the 18-yard box, and her shot on goal took a deflection from a Tiger defender and bounced over the keeper to give Powell the 1-0 lead.

Lander pressed and had its opportunities late, but the Panther defense stood tall and held out the opposition for the 1-0 win.

“I have been very impressed with this group of ladies and how they have been able to battle hard through tough games and not lose focus,” coach Agee said. “I believe that has helped us in multiple games this year already and that is what created that opportunity at goal and allowed it to go in. It was also nice to get our first away win against Lander since Callee [Erickson] and I started coaching.”

POWELL 6, PINEDALE 0

Following the narrow win Friday the Panthers continued their trip down to Pinedale to take on the Wranglers (0-5 overall, 0-2 3A West).

In contrast to the game on Friday the Panthers got on the board early in the first half, as Agee’s left footed shot from the edge of the 18-yard box found the bottom corner and made it 1-0 just over six minutes into the game.

Agee doubled her goal tally 15 minutes later, when she volleyed home a shot from the edge of the box to make it 2-0.

Eight minutes later Emery Hernandez got in on the scoring, rifling home a shot from 21 yards out to make it 3-0 with 11 minutes left in the half.

Hernandez got her second of the game just four minutes later, when she put home a second effort from a corner kick to make it 4-0.

Agee completed her first half hat trick with another strike from just outside the box to make it 5-0 going into the half.

Powell was only able to muster one goal in the second half, as Agee added one more with just over 17 minutes left to make the final score 6-0.

“I really enjoy watching the games when the ladies leave everything they have on the field as I believe that helps to bring us together as a team,” coach Agee said. “It can be difficult, however, to show up the next morning and bring the same level of performance. Having a little easier game this road trip was a great opportunity for the ladies to recover and work some players into different positions.”

SMALL BREAK

The Panthers now head into a small break at the midway point of the season, sitting with a 6-0 record which will be put on the line in a key battle for the top conference spot next week.

Powell will take this week and most of next to practice and continue improving its attack before hosting the rival Cody Fillies (5-1 overall, 4-0 3A West) at 4 p.m. next Thursday, April 24.

“The focus for the next few practices is really going to be speed of play in some live scenarios and I am hoping to help us get a little more confident up top in our attack,” Agee said. “The ladies are looking good though and hopefully we can just keep adding to what they have already shown this season.”