Lady Dogies take No. 1 seed

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Lady Dogies wrapped up last weekend maintaining a nine game run of shutouts, and in the process surpassed the Buffalo Lady Bison for the No. 1 seed in the 3A East Conference.
They hold the top position by only one point, however one is all they need to go into the state tournament in two weeks tasked with taking on the No. 4 seed from the west rather than the three.
“It feels good to have finally played a comparable amount of games,” head coach Cami Willyard said. “We have another game to go, but I feel pretty confident that we will get our last game this Saturday, so we will keep that one seed heading into the state tournament.”
The Lady Dogies played back-to-back contests against Torrington last week. After a makeup game on the road last Monday where Newcastle prevailed 1-0 playing on a field filled with long, thick grass, the Lady Trailblazers came to town Thursday for a chance at evening the score. Willyard’s squad made it clear that they were the better team, coming out victorious by a score of 3-0. 
“It was a big advantage for us to play on a field with shorter grass,” Willyard laughed. “But we still couldn’t capitalize for the first 20 minutes of the game.”
The Lady Dogies ended the contest going 3 for 19 in their shots on goal, so technically it was a better showing than the previous game where they finished only 1 for 20.
“Well, I guess we’re going in the right direction, but we still have to get better because those kinds of stats aren’t going to fly at state,” Willyard nodded. 
Newcastle scored all of their points in the first half, getting on the board with a goal by Lara Lopez who also scored the team’s only goal in Torrington. Lopez worked the Lady ‘Blazer sideline well in both contests, and at 20 minutes into Thursday’s game she used that strategy to find the back of the net.
“Her goal was very similar to the one in Torrington,” Willyard explained. “She went up the left side and was able to finish.”
About five minutes later LaKacee Lipp, who plays defense, sent a through ball to Claire Beastrom in the midfield who took a touch and sent it into the back of the net to go up 2-0. 
Though it took a minute for the team to get going, once they broke the plane they took off. Five minutes after Beastrom’s goal, the Lady Dogies pushed the score to 3-0 on a goal by Caitlyn Pehringer, assisted by Gabby McVay.
“We had a good 15-minute stretch and we finally scored on a corner kick,” Willyard said. “We moved Caitlyn up to make a run and she finished in the middle of the box with a shot over the keeper’s head.”
That was it for scoring for the contest, however the Lady Dogies dominated the majority of the game regarding
possession, evidenced by goalkeeper Angel Perez having had only two saves on the day.
“Overall it was a much better showing against Torrington,” said Willyard. “Obviously, I wish we could have finished a few more opportunities, but we are moving in the right direction.”
On Saturday, the Lady Dogies took the long bus ride to Rawlins and though high winds complicated the game plan, Newcastle was able to adjust and finish their ninth consecutive shutout of the year, defeating the Lady Outlaws 5-0.
“Wind was a huge factor,” Willyard explained. “But I thought for the most part the girls did a great job of keeping the ball on the pitch and not letting wind determine the outcome.”
The Lady Dogies dominated possession, and started the game with a great opportunity within the first 30 seconds. Unfortunately, the ball went a little wide, but the squad kept the pressure on from there.
It would take until the 33rd minute of the contest to get on the board, but once they did the goal opened up for them.
McVay picked up the initial score of the game when she finished in the box with her left foot from a free kick by Pehringer from the half.
About four minutes later with only about two and a half minutes to go before the end of the first half, Claire Beastrom was waiting at the 18 yard line, and received a mishandled ball by the Outlaws from which she sent a rocket into the net, putting her team up 2-0 at the half.
“We were happy that we were able to get those two, because that took some pressure off,” Willyard said. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous because I kept thinking that after having all the opportunities to score, if only one went over our head it was a one-on-one with our keeper, it could turn into a whole different game.”
MacKenzie Conzelman twisted her ankle in the first half so Willyard moved things around in the second. As the squad’s utility player, Emily Beastrom moved from defense to forward and two minutes into the second half she got a cross from McVay and finished right in front of the goal. 
After another offensive lull, with 15 minutes remaining in the contest, the Lady Dogies scored their fourth goal of the contest in a memorable way.
“It was pretty cool because it was a Beastrom to Beastrom goal,” Willyard said. “Emily found a nice through ball to Claire who had a great first touch and finished with a pretty powerful, well-placed shot.”
Four minutes later, McVay received a Lady Outlaw goal kick, cut through two defenders and found the back of the net with a low, right side shot for the final goal of the contest. Once again, Perez had a quiet game finishing with only one save on the day.
“It was a pretty good weekend, and it’s also pretty cool that throughout the season, our back line and keeper never gave up a goal at home,” Willyard said. “We haven’t been quite as stellar on the road, so we’ll have to clean that up, but it’s been a pretty fun season.”
The final game of the regular season is scheduled for noon this Saturday in Douglas against the Lady Bearcats.