The Northwest College women’s soccer team earned points against two difficult road opponents to remain unbeaten in Region IX action, as the Trappers drew 0-0 with Casper College on Friday before a 1-1 result against Gillette College on Saturday.

“That was really good getting two points on the road against probably two of the toughest opponents that we’ll face,” coach Rob Hill said.

NORTHWEST 0, CASPER COLLEGE 0

After a 2-0 weekend at home the Trappers (2-3-2 overall, 2-2-0 Region IX) took on the Thunderbirds (2-4-2 overall, 0-2-0 Region IX).

Heading into the contest the Trappers had a gameplan to slow down the Thunderbirds, who had suffered some early season losses to strong teams nationally, which allowed Northwest to see how to set up defensively.

“We kind of knew their strengths, and we kind of nullified those really, really well,” Hill said. “I thought defensively, our shape was very good. Our movement to get into good defensive shape was good.”

Northwest did not create a lot of chances in the first half, as Hill said the team did not have numbers moving forward very well.

The Trappers created more opportunities for themselves in the second half, but were unable to find the back of the net while still holding out big chances by the hosts.

“In the second half I thought we moved the ball well, created a couple of good chances,” Hill said. “They (Casper) had some shots, but they didn’t really threaten us. The one that they had, Coy [Erickson] was amazing, made an unbelievable save, but that was their only real threat. I feel like that was a very good point for us … I think that’s a fair results and I think that was a really big confidence booster.”

NORTHWEST 1, GILLETTE COLLEGE 1

The Trappers then traveled northeast to Gillette to take on the unbeaten Pronghorns (5-2-0 overall, 2-1-0 Region IX), a team sitting just outside the top 20 nationally as the second college receiving votes.

“Gillette is way more improved than previous years. A lot more athletes on the team,” Hill said.

Exhausted from the match the night prior, the Trappers knew being organized defensively and hitting on the counterattack would be important.

“I thought that we played very well defensively. We were superb, I thought they were winning duels, they got organized. They did exactly what I asked them to do,” Hill said.

He credited that organization to Lexie Bordessa, and that strong defensive performance allowed  Northwest to strike first.

Northwest won the ball off the press, before Sophia Body dribbled into the box, firing a cross in. That was kicked away straight to Kassidi Webb who fired it home to make it 1-0 just eight minutes before the break.

“It was a great finish. To go in 1-0 at half, we were already tired and exhausted,” Hill said.

Northwest held off the hosts early in the second half, but a shot from just inside the box found its way into the back of the net 17 minutes into the second frame to tie the game 1-1.

The Trappers held off the hosts and nearly stole the win at the end, but the teams settled for a 1-1 draw.

“These girls have shown a lot more grit than last year, and certainly since the Iowa Lakes game they’ve shown more grit, more determination,” Hill said. “In the end, we could have nicked it, but we did give up a lot of possession in that game. We had to. We didn’t have the energy for it, we had to be defensively organized because we knew what they were trying to do … Undefeated in conference after four, I’m very happy with that.”

RETURN HOME

Back home this weekend the Trappers have a single contest, taking on the Central Wyoming College Rustlers (2-3-3 overall, 1-2-1 Region IX) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinals in Riverton, which saw the Trappers knocked out of the postseason.

“We have to be healthy for this weekend. I’m glad we’ve only got one game because we’re really playing with 14 players,” Hill said. “Managing fitness levels, managing fatigue is a big key factor in what we do against Central … They’ve got good athletes, they’re much improved, different coach. We know they will run for days. They’ve had mixed results, I still expect a very tough game.”