A strong first half by the Powell Panther girls’ soccer team was offset by an even stronger second half by the visiting Cody Fillies on Friday at Panther Stadium — with the Fillies walking away with a resounding 9-2 victory over the hosts.

CODY 9, POWELL 2

It ended up being a top matchup between the No. 3 Panthers (5-4 overall, 5-3 3A West) and the No. 1 Fillies (10-0 overall, 8-0 3A West) and it lived up to the expectations early.

A resounding Panther defense came out and stood tall, forcing the Fillies to take long range efforts and not allowing the visitors to get on the board early like the previous matchup.

Powell weathered early attacks, and was able to get on the scoreboard first.

Ivy Agee launched a shot from 45 yards out, which slipped through the hands of the Filly goalkeeper to give Powell the lead 14 minutes into the game.

Cody ramped up the pressure, but the Panthers continued to hold the Fillies at bay for a majority of the first half.

The Fillies finally got their goal, when a shot from 25 yards found the top corner of the net to tie the contest 1-1 with 11 minutes left in the half.

Powell continued to battle, and was able to go into the half with the score tied 1-1.

“We told the ladies we were doing great and that we had shown that we could play with them,” coach Danny Agee said. “We had worked on several things in preparation, and they were doing well at those. The goal was to go out and continue to improve in a few areas and hopefully be able to hang on to the game.”

Unfortunately for the Panthers, Cody got on the right foot early and often in the second half.

Four goals in the first 10 minutes helped the Fillies quickly gain control of the contest, with the Panthers slowing down due to fatigue.

“Well to be honest we got tired and that was the short of it,” coach Agee said. “Fatigue prevents players from performing the details of the game with accuracy and Cody took advantage of that.”

Cody added one more before the Panthers got back on the scoreboard after a strong run by Coy Erickson up the right wing found a cross and a scramble in the box led to a finish by Mary Shopa to make it 6-2.

The Fillies added three more over the final 20 minutes — ending in a 9-2 victory for the visitors making the combined regular season score between the two teams 16-4 in favor of Cody.

“The last time we played Cody the score was 3-1 at half, this time (it was) 1-1 and we scored first,” coach Agee said. “I think we can be proud of that level of improvement.”

LONG, KEY ROAD TRIP

Powell now heads out on the road this weekend, taking a trip to the southwest portion of the state for three key matchups in the race for a state tournament berth.

That weekend kicks off with a matchup against Lyman (1-6 overall, 1-6 3A West) at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Powell then makes the short trip over to Mountain View (5-3 overall, 4-3 3A West) at 1 p.m. on Friday.

Powell defeated Lyman 7-5 and Mountain View 4-1 in the first matchups of the season.

“This is going to be a long week for sure, but we have total faith in the ladies that they will give it their all,” coach Agee said. “The wonderful thing about this group is that we have not let losing defeat us in any way — it is merely an opportunity to improve and keep working toward the end goal.”

The road trip wraps up against Pinedale (0-7 overall, 0-7 3A West) on Saturday at 10 a.m. Powell currently sits at the No. 2 seed in the 3A West with four games remaining on the schedule. 

The Panthers lead just ahead of Green River, Lander and Mountain View who all have four wins — but the Wolves have a slight lead over the Tigers and Buffalos with 13 points after a shootout loss and the Buffalos have a game in hand over the other three teams.

These matchups will be key if the Panthers are hoping to qualify for the state tournament in just over two weeks’ time for the first time since 2017, with Cody running away with the title and four teams battling for three spots representing the West.

Powell will return home next week for the regular season finale against Green River at 4 p.m. in a game that could potentially have state implications.

3A WEST Standings

Overall record then conference record

1. Cody 10-0 (30 points) … 8-0 (24 points)

2. Powell 5-4 (15 points) … 5-3 (15 points)

3. Green River 4-4 (13 points) … 4-4 (13 points)

4. Lander 4-4 (12 points) … 4-4 (12 points)

5. Mountain View 5-3 (15 points) … 4-3 (12 points)

6. Lyman 1-6 (3 points) … 1-6 (3 points)

7. Pinedale 0-7 (0 points) … 0-7 (0 points)