The Star Valley soccer teams hosted the Green River Wolves on Tuesday afternoon in the school’s third match over a six-day span. The Lady Braves fell to the visitors 3-1 while the Braves collected a 1-0 victory.
Wolves: 3 Lady Braves: 1
The Lady Braves played perhaps their best match of the season as they hung with the #3 ranked Wolves for the entire contest and for a brief moment thought they had the lead.
Green River found the back of the net first as freshman Athena Clement got one past Star Valley keeper, Cara Andrews, in the 11th minute for the lead. Roughly 20 minutes later the Lady Braves answered with a freshman of their own as Ridglynn Aullman scored her second goal of the season to tie the game heading into halftime.
At the 60-minute mark, Star Valley appeared to have capitalized on a chaotic push toward the net as fans cheered a score and what appeared to be a 2-1 lead. However, upon discussion, the officials disallowed the goal to drop the contest back to a 1-1 tie.
Green River scored what would be the game-winner just five minutes later as freshman Brooklyn Philliips scored on a nice assist to put the Wolves in front. Phillips slammed the door shut with another goal in the 73rd for the 3-1 final.
Andrews finished with ten saves off 17 shots on goal by Green River. The Lady Braves finished with seven shots on goal of their own. Abigail Mulvey finished with three saves for Green River.
Although without the services of Isabel Vasko who had a school-record day in the previous meeting against Star Valley, the Lady Braves enjoyed some of the best moments of the season thus far on the afternoon.
Wolves: 0 Braves: 1
After tying 2-2 earlier in the month on the Green River field, the two programs met knowing a little more about themselves on Tuesday evening. Star Valley, who was trying to pick up their first win since an opening weekend victory over Natrona, matched up well with a spirited pack of Wolves as the two teams traded rifle shots at each other’s nets.
A.J. Hale was masterful in goal for Star Valley as he finished with ten saves. Green River out-shot Star Valley 18-15 on frame but Hale and the defense kept the slate clean despite several close calls.
The game-winner came in the 67th minute as Star Valley junior, Max Matijczyk, was able to pounce on a Green River miscommunication to blast in the game’s only score. It was the only blemish on the afternoon for Wolves’ keeper, Colter Davis, who finished with seven saves of his own.
The win snapped a four-game winless streak for Star Valley and allowed them to move past back to back losses to Evanston and Riverton last week.
Both SVHS teams will next host the two schools from Casper with Natrona County on April 25 (4 p.m./6 p.m.) and Kelly Walsh on April 26 (9 a.m./11 a.m.). These varsity games will be played on the new field to the immediate west of Braves Field which represents a significantly larger surface as it pertains to soccer. Fans are encouraged to bring their own chairs for seating.
