September home stand dominates ledger

Fresh off its first Region IX championship, the Northwest College men’s soccer program released its 2012 schedule on Tuesday. The Trapper women followed suit.

The squads will begin their seasons with Aug. 11 exhibition games in Billings against Rocky Mountain College. The regular season will start two weeks later as the Trapper teams journey to Great Bend, Kan., for an opening weekend doubleheader against Barton and Northwest Tech.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will play an 18-game regular season schedule. Unlike this past season, which often saw the Trapper men’s team and the Trapper women’s team playing at different locations some weekends, the new schedules feature more men’s and women’s doubleheader dates.

The only difference comes during Region IX play. Northeastern Junior College will field just a men’s team in 2012. To compensate, the Trapper women will once again wrap up their regular season with a doubleheader against University of Colorado club teams.

One day earlier, the Trappers host Otero. The Rattlers will be fielding a women’s team for the first time this fall. The men’s game will feature a rematch of the last two Region IX championship games. The Rattlers and Trappers have split those contests previously.

Those games come as part of a seven-game home stand in the month of September. Northwest College plays its first regular-season game at Trapper Field on Sept. 7 against district tournament qualifier North Idaho and will not venture away from campus until Oct. 6.

The Region IX tournament will take place Oct. 23-27. First-round games will be played at the site of the higher-seeded school. Semifinal and championship games take place in Cheyenne this season.

2012 NWC Trapper soccer