Countdown to regionals begins

The countdown to regionals and state is on.

This week is going to decide some important qualifying outcomes in the battle to state.

The Green River girls varsity soccer team finished a successful weekend against two teams.

The lady wolves battled Evanston Thursday; a game which would result in a tie. Evanston has been improving and played a good game, head coach Tracy Wyant said.

Green River had some unlucky shots, she said and missed some opportunities to finish on some goals.

The two goals of the game were made by Lauren Hoyt who shot the first and Taylor Stoeger who finished the second.

"Field conditions were tough for us there," she said.

The field was short, the turf is different from Green River's home field and the wind was uncooperative. The game was in Green River's favor though, despite the game's difficulties. Green River was in the lead until the last 30 seconds of the game.

Stoeger cleared the ball in the air with her head. Goalie Dakota Neumann jumped up to catch the air ball, missed and fell to the ground. The ball hit the ground, and Evanston shot it in on the corner.

"Anything can happen until the whistle blows," Wyant said. "We had a breakdown and Evanston scored."

Thirty seconds and the game ended in a tie, 2-2.

The lady wolves then battled against Riverton Saturday.

"We dominated that game," Wyant said. "They didn't have many looks on goal on us. We dominated in possession."

"We shot like crazy," she said.

The wolves won against Riverton, 3-0.

Wyant said the score doesn't reflect just how good they played. They played better than what the score reflects, she said, the score should've been 9-0. Throughout the game, Neumann had to make a total of three saves, Stoeger made four breakaways, and girls made shots on goal as well. The wolves made 19 some shots on the opponent's goal, she said.

"We just need to make sure we finish when we have the opportunity," Wyant said.

Finishing will be key in the girls' games to come from here on out in the season. As results stand now, the girls are third place in conference. The top two teams in conference receive an automatic bye to state.

Green River will need to win their games this week to rank first or second place in conference going into the regional tournament. Their games this week will decide tournament seeds.

"This is an important week for us," Wyant said. "We need to clean it up, so we can pull ahead. We can't afford losses."

"We're fighting for first or second this week," she said. "We're looking for number one. We just have to make sure to win out."

The lady wolves' three last conference games ahead this week are against Rock Springs today, Natrona Friday, and Kelly Walsh Saturday.

If they win all three, the Wolves will be secured in first place. They will have three games in four days.

Wyant said it will be tough for them. They will be tired. It's a lot of soccer, she said, but they will persevere and get the job done.

"This will be it," Wyant said. "Everybody is going to be fighting for the win. It's a big week for us."