Defeat Pinedale for first win at new stadium

The Powell Panthers controlled possession of the soccer ball for the overwhelming majority of 80 minutes and delivered the first victory on the new Panther Stadium field turf with a 3-1 victory over Pinedale on Saturday.

“We wanted to get the first win on this field,” Panther head coach Travis Rapp said following his team’s win on Saturday. “That was something special that we wanted for these guys.”

Powell struck for the only goal in the first period as Cody Wichman carried the ball from the right wing into the 18-yard box and caught the Pinedale keeper out of position anticipating a crossing pass. Wichman was able to right foot the ball behind the Wranglers’ keeper and into net for the only goal of the first half.

That’s not to say Powell didn’t have plenty of chances to add to its margin. The Wranglers’ defense got little respite as Powell rarely allowed the visiting team to maintain possession in its offensive zone. On the occasions where Pinedale was able to clear the ball beyond the midstripe, the Panthers quickly regained possession and were back in attack mode.

Emilio Raya was denied a score in the final 10 minutes of the first half, taking a low crossing pass in the box and flicking it on net from point-blank range, only to have the Pinedale keeper make a spectacular play by going low to smother the ball. The Wranglers’ goal minder was also forced off the ground to punch away a couple first-half shot attempts by the Panthers.

That barrage continued largely unabated into the second half. Tyler Ouellette broke through to send home a Cooper Wise feed just over 10 minutes into the second half to double Powell’s lead to 2-0. A short while later, the Panthers’ Dewey Schwahn sent home an assist from Wichman for a 3-0 Powell lead.

The Wranglers recovered one goal just minutes after Schwahn’s strike as Pinedale was able to get a forward unmarked against Powell’s defense and play a crossing pass into him from the left wing. Panther goalkeeper David

Swenson made a diving play to his left and was able to deflect the ball upwards, but not enough to prevent it from catching the bottom of the crossbar and caroming into net for the Wranglers’ lone goal.

Similar to the end of the first half, the final 10 minutes of the game were spent almost exclusively in the Panthers’ attacking zone as Powell unleashed a barrage of shots on net. Ouellette appeared to add a fourth goal to the Panthers’ tally during that time, only to see it waved off by an offsides call from the linesman.

The victory was the Panthers’ third of the season.

Powell also saw action at No. 1 Buffalo on Friday, falling 2-0 to the top-ranked Bison.

“It was a good game,” Rapp said of that Friday road contest. “Buffalo’s a really good team and they have an outstanding pair of central defenders that did a good job of collecting anything in their area. We were able to maintain possession for a lot of the game, but we weren’t able to score.”

Despite the loss, the Panthers’ coach drew some inspiration from the game.

“We can play with them,” said Rapp. “I don’t think there’s a team that’s head and shoulders above anyone else in the state this season. If we see them again down the road, I like our chances.”

To get that chance, the Panthers will need to focus on their business at hand this week. Powell opens play in the 3A Northwest quadrant this week. The Panthers travel to Worland on Thursday for a 5 p.m. game, then return to Powell for a 1 p.m. Saturday home game against cross-county rival Cody.