Dogies stumble in grudge match

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Head coach Josh Peterson’s Dogies started last week with a solid performance, but hit a bump in the road to end it with a conference loss. 
Competition began as the Dogies hosted Gering, NE on Tuesday. Peterson and his squad were ready for the challenge of taking on the bigger school and gave the Bulldogs all they could handle throughout the duration of the contest. Though Newcastle dominated possession of the ball, they fell just short, dropping the game 1-2.
“The Gering game was just a lot of fun,” Peterson exclaimed. “The guys put together a really great game, and it was an awesome team effort.”
The Dogies went into halftime down 0-1 on a goal scored by Gering about midway through the first half. The Dogies came back out and pushed the pace, which paid off as they tied the game at 1-1 on a goal by Kyle “Scrappy” Haslam, who was assisted by Talon Logan.
“Our goal resulted from a great through ball from Talon down the sideline, and then Scrappy was able to finish with a nice shot off his left foot,” Peterson described. “It was a textbook play that was executed beautifully, and you just couldn’t ask for better. It was awesome to see the work the guys are putting in during practice translating to games.”
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs answered back shortly after the Newcastle goal to take the 2-1 lead, which they held for the duration.
“Even though we lost the game, I was really happy with how the guys played,” Peterson nodded. “We had our chances, and it was great that we were able to hang with them so close.”
A spring snowstorm which dumped many inches of the white stuff all around Newcastle caused a postponement of the Dogies’ Friday evening contest against the Buffalo Bison, so it wasn’t until Saturday that they played again when they traveled to Douglas for a second go-around against the Bearcats.
When the two teams met earlier in the season in Newcastle, the Dogies were able to get the better of the Bearcats 2-1. The scenario that played out in Douglas last weekend had a very different outcome.
“They came out with a fire and they definitely wanted it more than we did,” Peterson sighed. “It was certainly a wake up call for the guys. I don’t know if we were getting a little too cocky or what, but the first half of the game brought us back down to earth really quickly.”
The Bearcats scored the first of their five goals of the contest about 15 minutes in, and then went on to drill three more into the back of the Dogies’ net before the end of the first half.
“They really had us on our heels and took it to us in the last 20 minutes of the first half,” Peterson explained. “Going into the half down that far is pretty daunting, so I just told the guys that we needed to pull it together and try to get back into it with the time we had left.”
The talk seemed to resonate with the team, as in the remaining 40 minutes Newcastle played the Bearcats even. The Dogies held Douglas to only one more goal, and were able to get on the board with a goal by Jacob Rhoades with an assist by Payton Parks. Rhoades put his shot on frame from about 18 yards out, and it sailed right over the goalie’s head and just under the crossbar. 
“It was good that we came out and played better because we needed to have a good half to build some confidence heading into this week,” Peterson nodded. 
“We had some good looks, but we just didn’t put them on frame to finish. It’s a problem we’ve dealt with all year, and one that we need to get fixed.”
This week, the Dogies are off, but they will get back in action when they host the Torrington Trailblazers on Tuesday, April 23rd. Though both teams are tied with four points each in the conference, Torrington technically is sitting ahead of Newcastle in the standings, so while all conference games count for postseason qualification, this contest holds a bit more importance at this point in the season.