Men pick up first win

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Dogies kicked off their 2019 season with a weekend chock full of soccer, playing four games in two days at the Pinnacle Cup Tournament in Worland. Though the squad netted only one win, head coach Josh Peterson was pleased by what he saw from his team, especially given the adverse weather conditions that have hampered practice thus far in the year.
“Going into the tournament, we had only a day and a half of practice outside, and we were only able to use about a third of the field, so we weren’t as ready as I would have liked us to be,” Peterson began. “We showed fatigue late in games which put us at a disadvantage, but I was really happy to see that we did some pretty good things throughout the weekend.”
The Dogies drew Worland, the returning state champions and the home team, in their opening contest. Peterson and his team went into it fully aware that it was a tough draw.
“Worland has all but two starters back from their state champion team last season,” he began. “We did some good things, and we did score two goals against them, but they scored 10 against us. However, they only had three goals scored against them all weekend and two of them were against us, so that’s a real positive to take from the game.”
Peterson admitted that the Warriors dominated Newcastle regarding time of possession, and that the Dogies spent much of the contest on defense. However, he also insisted that his team was able to create opportunities for themselves, and got some shots on goal against the powerhouse team.
Kyle “Scrappy” Haslam and Jacob Rhoades took advantage of two penalty kick opportunities afforded the Dogies during the contest to put their team on the board, while goalkeeper Bradyn Frye had some saves. 
Unfortunately, it was mental lapses on the part of the team as a whole which gave Worland the opportunity to run their score into double digits.
“Those lapses that we had are pretty typical of how we start out the season, so in that respect they are definitely fixable,” Peterson declared. “Even though we lost that one 2-10, we really came out of it feeling pretty positive.”
The second contest of the day had the Dogies pitted against Lyman. As it is the Eagles’ first season of playing 3A soccer, they are in their probationary period so are only allowed to compete as a junior varsity team.
This time Newcastle was the team to dominate time of possession, and were able to take many shots on goal. Only two of those shots found their way into the back of the net, but it was enough to for the squad to take the 2-1 victory.
“Finishing is something we are going to have to work on, so this was a good chance to work on that and to see where we need to improve,” Peterson nodded. “It was also great to get our first win of the season, since last year it was about halfway through before we picked up our first W.”
Rhoades was the only Dogie to zero in and put the ball in the back of the net, scoring both goals for his team.
First up for the Dogies on Saturday was Green River, a talented 4A team. Newcastle started strong and came out playing very good defense through the first half of the contest, going into the half only down 1-0. According to Peterson the goal Green River scored was a fluke at best, given it dribbled into the net after a near save by Frye.
“We were hanging right there with them through the first half, and I think something clicked for us in the game,” Peterson began. “We were a little tired in the second half and got a little slower, which they took advantage of, but I thought we played better — despite losing 3-0 — than we did the first day.”
The fourth and final game of the weekend was against the Douglas Bearcats in a non-conference matchup. Once again, Newcastle found themselves down 0-3 at the end of the game, however the story of the contest was not told by the final score.
“It was great to see Douglas before conference play starts, and even though we lost I felt like we controlled the game,” Peterson stated. “We had twice as many shots as they did, it was our fourth game in two days, and a couple of the goals we gave up were fatigue related. I think they will be someone we should do well against when we see them again.”
The Dogies will get that chance this Friday as they host the Bearcats in their home opener on Friday. It’s a big conference weekend for the squad given they head to Rawlins on Saturday for a contest against the Outlaws. Season records will qualify the top four teams for the state tournament this year, so every game counts right from the start of the season.
The Dogies are scheduled to kick off against Douglas at 5 p.m. on Friday, following the Lady Dogies’ game.