Lady Dogies win shutout games

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Lady Dogies were all business last weekend as Riverton and Rawlins made the long drive to play in Newcastle. Head coach Cami Willyard had her squad ready to make their trip back home even longer as they took the win against the Wolverines on Friday 2-0, and smacked around the Lady Outlaws on Saturday by a score of 6-0.
“Getting these two conference wins was great,” exclaimed Willyard. “And winning with two shutouts was even better because when it comes down to tie-breakers at the end of the season, points scored against you really play a big role, so the less the better!”
The Lady Dogies were a bit in the dark regarding Riverton and their style of play, but Willyard knew they would be a competitive team. Though the contest was scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. on Friday, the Lady Wolverines’ bus didn’t arrive until the game was set to start. The delay gave Newcastle a bit of an advantage, given Riverton only had about 15 minutes to warm up after their long bus ride. 
The Lady Dogies jumped on Riverton and took control of the contest from the start. The Wolverines have a talented defensive back line, and, according to Willyard, possess some definite skills, but Newcastle did a good job of slowing down, finding feet and creating a lot of dangerous balls. Unfortunately, the Lady Dogies struggled to find the back of the net early on. 
The Lady Wolverines had the wind advantage in the first 40 minutes of play, however, Newcastle’s back line of LaKacee Lipp, Caitlyn Pehringer, Mia Peterson, Alaina Steveson and Becca Henkle held them off as well, so the two teams went into the break tied at zero.
“We knew that the second half was our time to push, but again despite many opportunities we still couldn’t score,” Willyard admitted. “I looked up and with about 20 minutes left to play started to get a little concerned, but our forwards, MacKenzie Conzelman and Gabby McVay, did a great job of figuring each other out and figuring out some runs to do on offense.” 
In the 55th minute of play, Newcastle was finally able to break the plane of the net and get on the board. McVay took a long shot, and Riverton committed a handball violation inside the box. As a result, McVay was given an opportunity at a penalty kick which the sophomore capitalized upon to find the back of the net, giving her team their first goal of the contest.
With five minutes remaining, Conzelman had the ball on the left side of the 18, and finished with her left foot to give her team a bit more of a comfortable lead with short time to play.
“I felt like we won the game possession wise but the score didn’t necessarily show it,” Willyard stated. “It was nice to get a goal that wasn’t a PK to solidify our performance against them, and it was the first time that our forwards scored all year, so that was great as well.”
The back line and keeper Angel Perez held Riverton to only four shots on goal, and Perez was able to deny each of those attempts.
Coming off their first win of the season — which just happened to be their home opener and a conference win — the Lady Dogies were ready for the Outlaws on Saturday. This contest was also senior night and the squad did it up right picking up another shutout and a definitive win. 
Right from the start, the Lady Dogies dominated possession and kept it in their offensive third of the field for most of the game but, again, it took a while to get started offensively.
At 20 minutes into the contest, Alaina Laurence had a long free kick from about 30 yards out. It appeared as though the keeper lost the ball, and it found its way to the back of the net.
Nine minutes later, the Outlaw defense had a misplay and Lara Lopez was there inside the box to capitalize on the mistake to put her team up 2-0.
With three minutes to go before the half-time break, McVay was fouled inside the 18, and she opted for a senior to take the PK. The nod went to Emily Beastrom who put it low and on the left side of the net to take a 3-0 lead into the break.
“We were working on playing down to the corner and crossing balls,” Willyard explained. So during half-time, I challenged them to get two more goals and to continue to play with a purpose and hold on to the shut-out.”
In the 55th minute, Conzelman capitalized on another Lady Outlaw misplay to put another one in the net, then Emily Beastrom got an assist from McVay who sent a crossball to her which she finished in the 62nd minute.
At that point, the team had their two-goal objective but they weren’t done. Conzelman sent a through ball from the half to McVay who ran it down and finished in the 67th minute for the final goal of the contest. 
Defense continued to work for the shut-out and the back line was impenetrable, denying the Lady Outlaws any shots on goal.
“I was so proud of our defense all weekend,” Willyard said. “Two shut-outs and only allowing four shots on goal in two games is awesome. Our back line is tough!”
“I’m also very pleased with our offense. Of our 12 goals that we’ve had this season, eight players have scored. That’s a testament to our camaraderie and unselfish play, and it is also great to have that talent,” she continued. “I don’t know how many teams around the state can say that, especially in only four games.”
Assistant coach Ashley Reed’s junior varsity crew also got their first win of the season on Saturday as they defeated Rawlins 1-0. 
The Lady Dogies have two more big conference games this weekend, and if they can get these, things are looking good to earning a state berth.
“If we can keep playing the way we have, I feel pretty confident going into this weekend,” Willyard said. 
Douglas comes to town on Friday with varsity beginning at 4 p.m., then the team goes to Torrington on Saturday with kick-off scheduled for noon and 2 p.m.