Dogie men win conference opener

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
After losing to the Douglas Bearcats 0-3 last weekend at the Worland Tournament, the Dogies were able to exact revenge against the Converse County team when it really mattered last Friday to pick up their first conference win of the season.
“Playing them in Worland gave us good insight to prepare for them last weekend,” head coach Josh Peterson began. “We were able to exploit some of their weaknesses and we worked on ways to attack those, and I think we did a pretty good job at that.”
All the scoring happened in the first half of play, with Douglas getting the jump on the Dogies when they found the back of the net seven minutes into the contest on a rebound from a penalty kick.
Bradyn Frye, the Dogies’ goalkeeper was able to block the initial PK, however the Bearcats followed it up and put it back in before Frye and the other Newcastle defenders could recover and reorganize.
Fortunately, the Dogies answered back quickly with a goal of their own when Jacob Rhoades used his speed and footwork to get past the Bearcat defenders to execute an unassisted shot on goal to tie the contest 1-1.
Carson Bock put the Dogies up 2-1 before the first half wound down on a really nice assist from Rhoades. 
“I thought we dominated and did a really good job of controlling and keeping possession of the ball in the first half,” Peterson nodded. “Unfortunately, we were not as effective in the second.”
Where the Dogies had been in attack mode and putting pressure on the Bearcat’s defensive line before the break, they ended up playing defense for the majority of the second half.
“That’s something we’re going to be working on this week in practice,” Peterson determined. “We gave up too many chances in the second half, and there were a few shots where we just got lucky because they hit the post and the ball bounced out.”
Though the Bearcats had their opportunities to tie or take the lead in the second frame, the Dogie defense was able to hold them off to take the 2-1 conference win.
Peterson gave a shout out to Frye, saying he did an outstanding job on the night protecting the goal, blocking two penalty kicks and saving three other legitimate shots on goal. 
“Bradyn had an excellent game, as did Jacob,” Peterson began. “But more importantly, it was a good team effort and we are starting to play better as a team than we ever have, so that’s awesome.”
Peterson was also pleased with the improvements he saw from his team from the week before.
“We were more aggressive and did a better job maintaining possession of the ball in the first half,” he began. “And defensively I don’t think we gave up very many decent opportunities, so we’re doing a better job of being in better defensive positions. We’re starting to pass the ball and move it around better as well.”
The Dogies are now two weekends into their season and already have two wins under their belts. Given the squad won only one contest last season, Peterson feels his team is sitting in a very positive situation heading into this week’s conference contest against the Rawlins Outlaws.
Rawlins and Newcastle were scheduled to play last Saturday, however the Outlaw’s field was buried under a couple of feet of snow. As such, the game was postponed to this Friday, and will be played in Douglas.
This situation may actually play to an advantage for the Dogies. First, they only have to travel two hours and will meet on a neutral arena, and it gives Newcastle a contest this week, where they were off before.
“I like that we are getting to play a game this week, and that we don’t have to go to Rawlins to do it,” Peterson admitted. “The postponement also gives us time to work on the issues we saw on Friday before we play our second conference game.”