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Trappers Defeat Trinidad, Fall to Otero
Samhia Simao set a single season scoring record while Leeann Payne set a single-season assists record for the Trapper women’s soccer team over the weekend. Despite the milestones, Northwest College was only able to manage a split of the road games.
“We’re disappointed that the weekend didn’t get the results we wanted, but I think this is a week we’ll look back on and feel good about how we played,” said Trapper women’s soccer coach Kaylin Olivas. “It was an overall good weekend for us.”
Northwest got off to a great start against Trinidad State. Despite playing on a sloppy field caused by a pregame downpour, the Trappers drove home three goals in the first 16 minutes to grab an early 3-0 lead.
“We were really able to play a lot of people and get some people a lot of playing time in the game,” said Olivas.
Simao opened the scoring for Northwest just five minutes into the contest, taking a feed from Payne and blasting a shot past the Trinidad State goalkeeper. Four minutes later, it was Payne’s turn as Miriam Gelderloos fed her in the box for a score.
Simao rounded out the Trappers’ scoring in the 16th minute with a goal off an assist from Christine Silvestrone.
With an early 3-0 lead, the Trappers were able to ride that margin to intermission. Trinidad State’s only goal came in the second half.
Northwest’s fast start was made all the more important due to the sloppy conditions of the playing field.
“It was pretty bad,” said Olivas. “There was a mud hole in the center of the field and you’d just go into it and get stuck. The ball would hit there and pretty much die. Our goalkeeper was just coated in mud by the time the game was over.”
Olivas said the conditions hindered the Trappers’ ability to play their brand of soccer.
“It makes it hard, because the ball bounces a bunch of times and gets dirty. You’re not sure what pace to put on it and footing is bad, so that made it a challenge to pass and move like we do,” said Olivas. “The girls did a good job of adapting to the conditions and dealing with them as best they could.”
At Otero on Sunday, the Trappers were again able to strike quickly with Simao knocking home a goal off a ball from Payne in the ninth minute of the contest. The goal was Simao’s 18th of the season, a new team record for Northwest College. The assist was Payne’s ninth of the year, also a team record total.
With five games remaining on the Trappers’ schedule, both totals are likely to rise before the end of the season.
Otero countered with a goal in the 14th minute before tallying the eventual game-winner in minute 55.
“It was a rough loss,” said Olivas. “We played a lot better than we did the first time against Otero, but we didn’t convert the chances we had. They were able to finish their opportunities better, but it really was a midfield battle. Overall, we defended well.”
The split of the action makes the Trapper women 8-4 overall this season. Northwest is 4-3 in Region IX play.
The Trapper men were also in action on the pitch this past weekend. The men scored a 6-1 victory over Trinidad State before falling 3-0 to rival Otero. Further details were unavailable on the games.
The Trapper men are 10-4 overall and 6-2 in Region IX play.
Both teams play at Laramie County on Friday and at Western Nebraska on Saturday. Both games are Region IX contests.