Trailing 2-0 on Friday night the Northwest College men settled in and pressed on to a 6-2 win in a rematch of last year’s semifinals over Casper College, before earning another 2-1 win against Gillette College on Saturday.

NORTHWEST 6, CASPER COLLEGE 2

Jumping back on the road the Trappers (4-2 overall, 3-1 Region IX) took on the Thunderbirds (2-3-3 overall, 0-1-1 Region IX).

Casper College got on the board twice in three minutes,  leading 2-0 18 minutes into the game.

“They started off very fast-paced, very erratic and we got involved in that. That was part of the problem, we had a game plan and they did not stick to it for 20 minutes. So it took us going 2-0 down from two very sloppy goals before we started to relax and play,” coach Rob Hill said. “I never lost belief that we’d win the game. I didn’t panic one bit.”

Northwest responded, when Hayden Vally dribbled his way into the box and was taken down to earn a penalty kick, and William Danaire fired it home to make it 2-1 with just under 18 minutes left in the half.

The Trappers got a second when a free kick bounced around the box, and Vally’s shot was deflected into the back of the net and the score was tied 2-2 heading into the halftime break.

“Hayden was a massive problem for them,” Hill said.

Northwest completed the comeback and took the lead 3-2 when Sora Taenaka tapped home a shot after a long throw into the box nine minutes into the second half.

Taenaka netted his second of the game five minutes later, putting home a left footed effort from the edge of the box to make it 4-2.

Another long throw benefitted the Trappers, when Josh Rabord headed home the ball just three minutes later as Northwest made it 5-2.

Rabord capped off the scoring with 13 minutes left, as a shot was saved off the post and Rabord tapped it home to make it 6-2.

“If I’m honest it could have been 10. We overran them, and I was very pleased, especially going down to their place,” Hill said. “We went down there and were all business, and I thought the guys were very good. Subs came on and kept the tempo up, kept the intensity up … Once we realized what their (Casper’s) threat was, which was a long ball to No. 22, and then going in the box — once that was over, they didn’t really have any other threats for us.”

NORTHWEST 2, GILLETTE COLLEGE 1

The Trappers matched up with the Pronghorns (3-2-4 overall, 0-2 Region IX) in Gillette, hoping to take their win streak to three.

Windy conditions made it a challenging contest all day, with Northwest earning early goals ruled out for being offsides as it remained 0-0 at halftime.

“We had a lot of tired legs, we had a couple of goals offside that we reviewed the film and they were onside, which was frustrating. The wind didn’t help us (at all),” Hill said.

Northwest got on the board in the 71st minute, when Taenaka put home a shot on a corner kick to make it 1-0.

He doubled the advantage just seven minutes later, when his shot on goal was mishandled by the Pronghorn keeper and went into the net to make it 2-0.

A mistake by the Trapper defense was taken advantage of by the hosts with 10 minutes left, as a high ball played backwards was stolen and fired into the back of the net to make it 2-1.

Northwest ended the game with the 2-1 win.

“It was a bit of a nailbiter at the end. If we can learn to just be more clinical in front of goal, we’re creating such good chances now that we have to be a bit more clinical,” Hill said. “We can’t take those chances for granted.”

HOME GAME SATURDAY

The Trappers return home after their road trip, and welcome in a tough opponent in the NJCAA No. 20-ranked Central Wyoming Rustlers (6-3-1 overall, 2-2-0 Region IX) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

“They’ve got some very big threats … This weekend, that will be a really big battle … I think we’re in good spirits, we’re in a good place,” Hill said. “We’ve got competition for spots, and the guys that are coming off the bench are doing a great job.”