A stunning defeat in the final minutes on Friday resulted in a Region IX opening weekend split for the Northwest College men’s soccer team, as the Trappers fell to Trinidad State College 4-3 before rebounding against Otero College 4-1 on Saturday.

TRINIDAD 4, NORTHWEST 3

Gusty conditions led to a challenging contest on Friday, as the Trappers (2-2 overall, 1-1 Region IX) welcomed in the Trojans (1-6 overall, 1-1 Region IX).

Northwest had the wind at its back, and tried to take full advantage of it in the first half.

Chances poured in for the Trappers, but they were unable to find the back of the net until Taylor Bridger fired one home just before the midway point of the half.

Northwest had more chances to score as Bridger hit the crossbar just a minute later, but those opportunities went amiss as Northwest went into the half only leading 1-0.

“We missed six or seven unbelievable chances in the first half, we should have been six up at half,” coach Rob Hill said. “But that’s football, and that’s sports. If you don’t bury your chances, you always keep teams alive, and we did that.”

Those missed chances immediately haunted the Trappers, as the Trojans equalized the scoreline just over a minute into the second half.

Northwest gained back the lead just three minutes later, as Seia Soto put home a near post shot to make it 2-1.

Daiki Misawa got the third for Northwest, firing home a chance on a breakaway to make it 3-1 with 30 minutes to go.

Northwest was on its way to an opening victory, before a disastrous final 10 minutes.

Attempting to waste time led to a confusing situation in the box, with the Trapper keeper called for a foul resulting in a penalty for the visitors.

That penalty was converted, and Trinidad had life, down 3-2.

It took until there was just over a minute left, when a long free kick was launched into the box from the Trojans, and a deflection off the head of a Trapper soared into the back of the net to tie the game 3-3.

Unable to keep the surge from the Trojans down, the Trappers surrendered a corner kick, which was subsequently headed into the back of the net with four seconds on the clock to give the visitors a stunning victory.

“At 3-1 up, we made some subs to try to rest and rotate, so we had full strength the next day. The wind was a massive factor, but we let off the gas. We made silly mistakes, silly fouls in silly areas,” Hill said. “Credit to Trinidad, they never stopped fighting, and they took advantage of the wind and took advantage of the fact that we maybe didn’t have the right mindset to finish the game off.”

NORTHWEST 4, OTERO 1

Heading into Saturday after the loss, the Trappers welcomed the Rattlers (0-4-3 overall, 0-1-1 Region IX).

Disaster struck early, as the Rattlers fired home a shot that stayed in the box off a corner just 1:26 into the game to make it 1-0.

“Conceding after 90 seconds off another set piece was very disappointing. We’ve conceded far too many goals from set pieces in my opinion,” Hill said. “We have to organize better and switch on better.”

Northwest had an answer quickly after, as Sora Taenaka fired home a rebound off a long shot by Tristan Hargreaves just three minutes later.

The Trappers again had the better chances in the first half, but went into the break tied 1-1.

Six minutes into the second half Taenaka got his second goal, as he had a bicycle kick hit into a Rattler defender, who was unable to keep it out and shepherded it into the goal to give Northwest a 2-1 lead.

The Trappers extended the lead eight minutes later, when William Danaire converted a penalty, and led even further when he converted another penalty six minutes after that to give Northwest a 4-1 lead with 25 minutes left in the game.

Northwest finished with a 4-1 victory.

“We were so hungry against Otero. We’d done a lot of planning for them,” Hill said. “Our press was good, our movement was good. We knew where their weaknesses were … I was very, very pleased.”

TOUGH ROAD TRIP

The Trappers now  continue Region IX play with a pair of difficult opponents.

Northwest’s first opponent will be Casper College (2-2-2 overall, 0-0 Region IX) at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Northwest then continues on to Gillette College (3-2-2 overall, 0-0 Region IX) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

“They’ve (Casper) had some mixed results coming into this, but Casper come conference play is always quality. They never stop running for each other. It will be a very hard game, and I’m sure they’ll want revenge after the semifinal last year,” Hill said. “Gillette, I expect them to be much improved … Every game is tough … After that weekend of playing, I think that we are in good spirits, good mindset and I think we’ll be looking forward to the games.”