• Return to action on April 10 in Evanston
The Braves soccer team was back in action this past weekend with two trips over three days to Sweetwater county as they battled Rock Springs and Green River. One change to this year’s 4A West calendar is the addition of the Wolves back to the league due to the most recent reclassification formulas from the Wyoming High School Activities Association. There are now 15 teams in Wyoming’s 4A class with eight of them residing in the west. The Wolves will also be hosting what promises to be a spirited regional tournament.
Against the Tigers, the Braves ended up in a 4-2 finish against what has historically been a very physical and intense rivalry with the Tigers. The team then put up a great fight heading into their spring break by forging a 2-2 tie with the Wolves to add a point in the overall standings.
This comes off a win and a loss in Casper the week before where the team fell to Kelly Walsh but picked up a win over Natrona County. Coach Trevor Spencer reflected on the opening weekend.
“Overall I felt like we had a good weekend,” he said. “We had a tall task going to Casper for the first weekend of the season. Kelly Walsh is always a quality team and this year is no different. They are very skilled and technical. They are fast and capitalize on all of your mistakes. I felt like the score at the end did not fully represent how the game went. We graduated a lot of kids last year and with them a lot of Varsity experience. We have a few players that have seen a lot of varsity time, but we have a lot of boys that are getting their first taste of that tough competition. We also have some underclassmen that have come in and will make an impact for us this year. Even in that loss we found some bright spots and worked out a few wrinkles. My boys played hard and represented themselves well.”
Spencer detailed the team’s improvement against the Mustangs.
“The game at Natrona was much better. The weather was windy, but didn’t seem to affect the outcome much. We had some injuries during the game that are concerning, but the boys who replaced the injured players stepped in and did a great job. Our first goal was scored by Kristoff Buehler who took an excellent corner kick, realizing that the keeper was a bit out of position and snuck the ball through. We played hard and were generating quite a few shots but nothing more found the back of the net in the first half. I told the boys at halftime that one goal wasn’t going to stand, and Natrona came back and scored in the second half to tie the game. We played back and forth for a lot of the second half until there was just under a minute left. We got a free kick just inside The Natrona half of the field. Jacob Choma hit a beautiful ball that curled into the box. Natrona’s keeper misplayed it a little bit and Jacob Howe was able to back heel a pass to Grant Buchanan who shot and scored with :27 seconds left in the game! Natrona pushed everyone forward on the kickoff, but we were able to clear the ball and win the game 2-1! It was a great way to end the weekend of games for us and made the bus ride home more enjoyable.”
The team returns to action on April 10 as they play on the road in Evanston. The Braves then get to come home for six consecutive home matches between April 12 and May 1.
“I’m looking forward to watching this team build on the successes and correct some mistakes,” Spencer added. “They are a great group of boys and I’m excited for the rest of the season!”
