◆ Star Valley Soccer will be challenged with road trip.

After a week off for Spring Break, the Star Valley Braves soccer team will be back in action this weekend as they face off against perennial powers in Casper.

Most recently the team battled to a 2-1 loss at Rock Springs at the end of March but the score did not tell the story of the match which often times is the hard part of soccer outcomes.

“I thought our boys played really hard,” stated Head Coach Trevor Spencer. “We had a good week of prep leading up to the match. We had a lot of chances but we definitely did out-shoot them. We even had two penalty kicks that we missed. When you lose a game and miss two of those that’s certainly a big factor.”

Kason Haderlie scored the team’s lone goal. The program will now make the trek to the Oil City where they will see two teams with a history of success in Wyoming’s 4A Classification. In addition the players want to do a better job of taking advantage of the opportunities given to them.

“Coming away from that game they mentioned how they felt that game slipped away from them,” Spencer said. “They felt good about how they played and realized that we have to capitalize on the chances that we have.”

This Friday the Braves will be at Kelly Walsh High School with a junior varsity match starting at 4 p.m. and the varsity match scheduled for 6 p.m.

“We expect some tough matches,” Spencer continued. “Kelly Walsh has been in the thick of regional competition for the last many years. When we played them most recently they were tough. We’re excited to see where we match up. We expect a physical match against Natrona so we expect more of the same. Our boys are excited to play. Even coming off of a loss we feel like we’re making progress and getting to where we want to be.”

In addition to another week of practice and some time off due to Spring Break, the program should be at full strength this weekend with athletes back in action who may have had to miss matches due to other commitments.

“We’re excited to have those members of our team back and available who have been involved with other things like the musical,” Spencer stated. “Brant [Nelson] is a big part of our team so it’s good to have him back. We have some sophomores like McKell Merritt and Kason and Wyatt Dunn who have been giving us some great minutes. The boys are all practicing hard but those kids have stood out.”