Green River Wolves Boys Soccer team splits games with Casper opponents

The Green River Wolves Boys Soccer team traveled to Casper last week to compete in conference games against the Kelly Walsh Trojans and the Natrona County Mustangs.

On Friday, the Wolves faced the very competitive Trojans. Green River struggled to keep up with Kelly Walsh in the first half of the game. The Wolves scored one goal while the Trojans got on the board with four goals. During the second half, Green River was unable to get back in the game. Kelly Walsh scored two more goals while Green River couldn't find the back of the net. The Wolves fell to the Trojans with a final score of 1-6.

Leading the Wolves with one goal was Gavin Mares, along with Goalkeeper Colter Davis with nine saves at the net. Jaxon Morris had one assist during the game while shots were attempted by Irie Kuball and Izyk Arellano.

Overall, Assistant Coach Greg Doak felt the boys played pretty well in the game against Kelly Walsh despite being disorganized defensively. He said they were moving the ball well but needed to work on getting the ball in the net more.

"The way the boys moved the ball was 100 times better than last week," said Coach Doak.

On Saturday, the Wolves took on the Natrona County Mustangs. This was a very different game for the Wolves than the day before. They stepped out on the field stronger and played with more teamwork. In the first half of the game, Green River scored one goal to Natrona's two goals. The Wolves rallied together and scored two goals while their determined defensive players kept Natrona from scoring for the rest of the game. The Wolves closed out the game with the win, 3-2.

Leading the team were Braxton Doak, Aiden Morris and Mares with one goal each and Goalkeeper Davis with four saves. Several shots were attempted by Dominick Littlefield, Doak, Maddux Hintz, Jaxon Morris, Arellano and Mares.

Coach Doak thought the boys played great against Natrona County as they moved the ball really well on the field and they were playing well as a team.

"Natrona was an interesting game," explained Coach Doak. "With six to eight minutes left in the game, we tied it up. With seven seconds left in the game, Braxton Doak scored the final goal to give us the win. It was pretty awesome."

The coaching staff was very pleased with the boys' performances in Casper. It was the first week the entire team was back playing after a difficult season of injuries. They've been working on building up the team's cohesion and preparing to fight at Regionals for their spot in the State Championships.

The Wolves travel to Rock Springs today to play their last conference game against the Tigers at 6 p.m. As the season comes to a close, the Wolves will compete in the 4A West Regional Championships that are hosted by Green River this year. The Championships begin on Thursday, May 15 and run through Saturday, May 17. The teams competing in the 4A West are Green River, Rock Springs, Jackson, Kelly Walsh, Riverton, Star Valley, Evanston and Natrona County. Green River is looking to earn their spot in the 4A State Championships that take place in Gillette on May 22 through May 24.