Ladies split weekend

Despite gale force side winds which ripped across the soccer pitch Thursday, the Lady Dogie soccer team trampled the Lady Trailblazers in their first conference match-up of the season, shutting out the Torrington team 6-0. On Friday, the Lady Bison turned the tables and defeated Newcastle in Buffalo, 6-0.
The cross wind was strong out of the east on Thursday, but the Lady Dogies dominated the Lady ‘Blazers from the opening kick-off.
“We had some players that played their best game of the season!” said head coach Jessie Stearns. “Kyah [Miller] played the best I’ve ever seen her play. She was possessing the ball, and distributing to feet, and was not afraid to get in there and fight for the ball.”
Miller, in her center midfield position, was also the first Lady Dogie to put the ball in the net from just outside the 18-yard line at about 20 minutes into the first half. 
“Aspen [Bloom] did a great job of pressuring the ball which forced a bad pass that Kyah was able to control,” Stearns began. “She shot a nice, low-driven ball that hit the post and bounced in. It was just a nicely placed shot based on where the keeper was in the net.” 
Gabby McVay picked up her second hat trick of the season by scoring the team’s next three goals, two before the halftime break and one after. 
Her first goal came from a throw-in from around the 18-yard line. Bloom claimed the assist as she got the ball to McVay who took one touch around the defender and sent a shot to the low left corner and found the back of the net. 
Her second resulted from McVay intercepting a throw-in and taking it down the right side of the field. She took the shot, and with a little help from the wind the ball found its way into the side netting of the goal and bounced off it into the back of the net.
“It was a pretty goal, and it was great that she took advantage of the wind,” Stearns said.
The Lady Dogies went into the half up 3-0, and Stearns considered changing up her line-up to pull fill-in keeper McKenzie Rose out of the goal, however she changed her mind.
“I thought that if we got up another goal or two, of getting Kenz out of the goal and into the field, but I was worried that Torrington would try to use the wind and try to boot it in,” she explained. “I was afraid that with a less experienced goalkeeper, they might not be able to read a situation like that.”
Torrington was unable to take advantage of the wind in the second half, but Newcastle succeeded in building their advantage in the second 40 minutes of play.
McVay’s third goal happened as a result of a free kick about 35 yards out of the goal. 
“I think she was just trying to service the ball in, because it dropped about six yards in front of the keeper,” Stearns said. “Mack [Conzelman] was there, and maybe her being close distracted the keeper a little, because she let it roll through her legs and it found its way into the back of the net.”
MacKenzie Conzelman scored goal number five for the Lady Dogies with a little under 14 minutes remaining. Newcastle had a deep throw-in which Conzelman was able to settle and turn, and she shot the ball with her left foot into the near side post. 
The final goal happened with around 22 seconds to play. 
“We really wanted to get Ruth [Rose] a goal,” Stearns said. “We had Trinity [Carter] in as forward, and she intercepted their clearance attempt at the top of the box and played the ball to Ruth who shot from about six yards out and found the back of the net on the near post.”
The Lady Dogies ended with 14 on-frame shots on goal, and Rose finished with eight saves. 
The game in Buffalo the next day saw a different Lady Dogie team on the pitch.
“It was like we didn’t even care about playing a soccer game,” Stearns said, frowning. “It was really hard to watch, to be honest, because they just weren’t playing like the team I know.” 
Buffalo scored within the first three minutes, then again 10 minutes later, and would rack up five goals to Newcastle’s zero by the end of the first half.
Maggie Olson was back for Buffalo, and probably made a difference in the midfield, but Stearns believed that the difference in the outcome of the game from Newcastle’s earlier contest had more to do with her team’s mistakes rather than the Lady Bison’s prowess.
“At the half, we talked about how it looked like they didn’t even want to play,” Stearns said. “The girls took it to heart, because the second half was much better.”
In the second half, the Lady Dogies only allowed the Lady Bison one goal.
“They aren’t 6-0 better than us, but they wanted to win and they played that way,” Stearns shrugged. “Had we played how we are capable, it would have been a different game.”
The Lady Dogies were able to get five shots on frame throughout the contest, and Rose ended the contest with eight saves.
This week is a big one for the Lady Dogies regarding securing a playoff berth. On Wednesday, they will host the Lady Bearcats of Douglas at 4 p.m. in a makeup match, and then will host Riverton on Friday starting at 3.