Ladies tie in conference opener

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Lady Dogies soccer team opened up conference play on April 1, and for the first time in the history of the sport, left Buffalo without letting the Lady Bison get the better of them. Though it wasn’t a win, head coach Cami Willyard was pleased that her squad played even throughout 100 minutes of play.
“We’ve never been able to pull out a win against Buffalo, so it was awesome that we finally tied them during the season,” she beamed. “I think if we hadn’t had the slow start we had, it might have ended even better.”
There was some miscommunication between entities so Newcastle arrived in Buffalo under the assumption that the junior varsity squad would take the field first. They found upon arrival, however, that varsity was up first so Willyard and her crew worked quickly to get ready to go.
“We got them out and warmed up as quickly as we could, but started the game very slowly,” she admitted. “We weren’t winning any of the balls, we weren’t challenging them, and it felt like we were just still on the bus.”
The Lady Bison were able to get on the board in the first 15 minutes and had a 2-0 lead over the Lady Dogies by the half.
“They looked like they were just flying past us, and they were winning every ball,” Willyard sighed. “It was a rough first half.”
However, Newcastle got up to speed during the break and came out guns blazing. The Lady Dogies began stepping to the ball and winning more challenges, forcing the Lady Bison back on their heels for much of the second half. 
“We looked like a completely different team, and it was definitely a completely different game,” Willyard declared. “We dominated the second half and though they still had some touches, they weren’t as efficient because we didn’t let them execute like they wanted to.”
After the Lady Bison were able to get one more in five minutes after retaking the pitch to stretch their lead to 3-0, the Lady Dogies finally got on the board about 10 minutes into the second half when Gabby McVay entered the ball on a corner kick. 
Caitlyn Pehringer maneuvered the ball into a dangerous position in the box, and Buffalo made a move to clear it but failed to get it past the 18 yard line. Pehringer took a nice, left-footed arcing shot that found its way into the back of the net for Newcastle’s first goal of the contest. 
The Lady Dogies then moved to within one after the Lady Bison committed a penalty outside the 18. Claire Beastrom got the nod to take the penalty kick and the senior found the back of the net high up in the corner for her first goal of the season. Newcastle was now within striking distance of tying the game.
With 10 minutes remaining, Lara Lopez drew a foul inside the box and Beastrom once again lined up for the opportunity to tie things up, and she stayed perfect on the day bringing the score to 3-3 with a low shot to the left side of the goal.
“Our bench stepped up big time giving us quality minutes in the second half,” Willyard stated. “We also moved Claire from the wing to center midfield. She wasn’t really getting through their outside backs so we wanted to see what she could do in the middle, and that changed the game for us.” 
For the final 10 minutes, Newcastle still dominated and kept pressing but couldn’t get one more in to take the win during regulation.
Overtime consisted of two 10-minute halves, and according to Willyard, everyone was running out of gas so the remaining 20 minutes was a slugfest between the two teams. However, Newcastle was able to grit it out and hold the Lady Bison scoreless to finish their first conference contest with a tie.
“We had to hold them off, but we also had opportunities to score, so it was a battle,” Willyard said. 
Junior goalkeeper Angel Perez did her part in holding the Lady Bison off the scoreboard with 18 saves on the day — six in the first half, six in the second and six in overtime.
The Lady Dogies’ home opener against  Gering, Neb., was cancelled on Tuesday, but they will have back-to-back home contests on Friday and Saturday. They will host Riverton on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. and Rawlins on Saturday at noon. 
Saturday is also slated for senior recognition and the ladies have a senior heavy crew to celebrate.