2 weeks Ago By BEN SCHULTZ [email protected]
The toughest week of the Northwest boys soccer schedule is over with two losses. But even with the losses it’s the best Northwest has played all season. “We struggled early on to put together even a complete half and on Tuesday I thought we played a great first half and then we came out and we still had about a 10-15-minute stretch where we just didn’t play very hard and gave up a lot of opportunities,” Northwest coach AJ Armstrong said.
“Tonight I felt like we didn’t do that, we missed a couple marks on some counter attacks and gave up a couple goals, but those are all fixable things.” Northwest played Class B No. 7 Schuyler (Omaha World-Herald) on Tuesday and lost 4-1, then Friday played Class B No.
1 Hastings and lost 2-0. “That’s the most complete game we’ve played all year,” Armstrong said of Friday’s game. “I told them after the game that they got to realize that we’re a bunch of freshmen, sophomore, few juniors playing against a team that’s full of seniors and juniors, couple of which are going on to play in college.
” The early stages of the game were tight as Northwest’s defense didn’t allow for Hastings to get much on the attack. Hastings kept trying and trying before it scored on the 31st minute, a goal by Jose Mares after Northwest goalkeeper Brandon Bykerk saved a shot that landed at Mares feet. “We were knocking on the door a lot and couldn’t find the first goal, but then luckily we ended up putting a couple passes together and we got the ball on Jose who obviously is a player who can finish,” Hastings assistant coach Julio Carreto said.
At halftime, Hastings out shot Northwest 7-2. Bykerk, one of a handful of seniors on the Northwest team, made eight saves on the night, including a couple that got reactions from the crowd. “He’s a tough kid and just unbelievably athletic and has worked with coach Wemhoff a ton in practice to get where he needs to be right now,” Armstrong said.
“The kid has improved like I couldn’t believe from March until now.” As the second half wore on, the game became more intense and more physical. Hastings was given two yellow cards in the last 11 minutes of the game.
The Tigers continued to work for a second goal that would put the game out of reach as the Vikings attack struggled to get good looks. That second goal came in the 73rd minute on a cross from Johnathan Pedroza to Ticen Johnson who put the ball in the back of the net. “The ball was a great pass and then our player Ticen was where he needed to be and was able to convert,” Carreto said.
Next up for Northwest is a meeting with Crete at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“First time we played Crete I thought we played an extremely lazy game, especially defensively in the midfield, so if we show up and play with the urgency and the intensity that we did this week I think we’ll be just fine,” Armstrong said. Hastings, who played three games this week will turn around and play North Platte at 4:30 p.m.
Monday. “We tell the players to be disciplined in their off time, to stretch, to be well rested, to take care of any injuries they have,” Carreto said. Girls The Northwest girls soccer team picked up its fifth-straight win against Hastings to improve to 12-2 on Friday night.
“I thought they came out pretty good. Hastings was kind of a wildcard to me just because I’ve seen their schedule, a very tough schedule and they’ve been in most of the games they’ve played in,” Northwest coach Jess Herrmann said. It didn’t take long for Northwest to score as Leah Carlson capitalized on a bad pass by Hastings to score on the fourth minute.
After that, Hastings stifled Northwest’s attack and didn’t allow looks around the goal. So Lupe Sanchez took it upon herself to score from well outside the box in the 39th minute. “You don’t see that a lot,” Herrmann said.
“That’s nothing we’ve taught her on our end.” In the second half, Northwest scored on two corners, the first by Evie Keller and the second finished by Evelyn Poland. Carlson record the assist on both as she had one goal and two assists on the day.
“We haven’t finished those throughout the season so that’s another thing we’ve really worked on,” Herrmann said. Sanchez finished the day with two goals as she extends her school record for career goals game by game. Hastings will be back in action at 4:30 p.
m. Monday at home against North Platte. “We’re going to take a couple days and get our mind right and get physically ready,” Hastings coach Nathan Mueller said.
Northwest has some time off after it played four games in five days and will play at 4 p.m. Thursday at Seward.
“We’re going to give them Monday off so they get a three-day break and then we’re going to hit hard Tuesday, Wednesday and gear up for Seward,” Herrmann said..
