Dogies lose close one in OT

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
After opening their conference season with a win against Douglas, the Dogies were looking to add another W to their record against Rawlins last Friday at a game played on a neutral field in Douglas. Unfortunately, the Outlaws were able to outlast the Dogies in overtime to pull out the 2-1 win.
“The boys played an awesome game,” exclaimed head coach Josh Peterson. “It was unfortunate that we lost, but we showed some real fight throughout the contest.”
The Dogies struck first, scoring in the first 10 minutes of the game, and went on to maintain the 1-0 lead going into halftime.
It was Jacob Rhoades who found the back of the net off of an assist by Payton Parks. The two combined for a steal right in front of the Outlaws’ 18, and Parks made a beautiful pass to Rhoades, who was able to beat one defender and drill a shot past the Rawlins goalkeeper. 
“In the first half, I thought we did an excellent job of dominating in the midfield,” Peterson nodded. “That gave us many more opportunities to attack and meant we didn’t have to defend as much, so that was great to see.”
After the break, it appeared that the Dogies slowed down a bit, which Peterson attributed to fatigue. Despite making more threatening opportunities on goal, Newcastle was unable to add to their score, while Rawlins capitalized on a free kick from the midfield line to tie the contest at 1-1 at the end of regulation.
“I felt like we got a little tired, but we fought through it and didn’t give up a lot of chances,” Peterson began. “The guy who kicked the free kick put an excellent ball over our defense, and then they were able to finish.”
Overtime was a back and forth affair, with the Dogies playing into the wind during the first 10 minutes. That circumstance made it a little harder for the squad to get the ball out of the backfield. In the first half of OT, the Outlaws were able to score off of a corner kick where the Dogies misplayed the ball on the inside post, allowing it to sneak into the back of the net.
In the second ten minutes of overtime the Dogies had some really good chances, but were just not able to finish, due in part to a talented, young Outlaw goalie.
“Their keeper is only a sophomore, but he is an All-State player,” Peterson described. “We put some pretty good pressure on him, and Dayton McFarland had a couple of really good shots, but their goalie made some really good saves.”
Despite the loss, the Dogies are off to a solid start to their 2019 season, and are currently tied with Torrington for the second/third spot in terms of conference play. One of the changes that may be a factor in this early success is that when the team is on the attack, the defense steps up to help keep the pressure on, making it harder for their opponent to have offensive opportunities.
“All of our defensive back line are doing a great job of stepping up to keep us in attack mode, and that has helped us a lot this year,” Peterson nodded. “I think we’re fast enough in the back that the potential to get burned with this strategy is mitigated. Plus Bradyn [Frye, the Dogies’ goalkeeper] is pretty aggressive, so he also steps up and cleans up anything that might go over the top of the defense.”
This week the team played Gering at home on Tuesday, and over the weekend they will return to conference play. The Dogies host the Buffalo Bison on Friday, with the JV beginning at 4:00 p.m., followed by the varsity at 6:00. On Saturday they head to Douglas for a rematch against the Bearcats.
“Buffalo is always tough, but I think that after we played so well against Rawlins that we are expecting it to be anyone’s game, and that we will be pretty competitive,” Peterson predicted. “We beat Douglas but anytime your keeper has to make two saves on PKs to keep you in it, you know it’s a close one. There are a couple of things we need to tighten up before we see them again, but hopefully we can make it two in a row.”