Panthers place third in silver bracket

A rough start to the Pinnacle Cup Soccer Tournament didn’t keep the Powell High School boys soccer team from ending things on a high note Friday and Saturday at Worland High School.

The Panthers finished third in the silver bracket and ended competition with a 2-2 record. PHS now sits at 3-4 on the season, with upcoming matches at Jackson Hole at 7 p.m. Friday and Star Valley at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“Overall, it gave us some stuff to work on defensively and on the offensive side of the ball,” PHS head coach Travis Rapp said of the weekend’s action.

Friday’s tournament games were played with 30-minutes halves. Saturday’s contests were played with regular 40-minute halves.

Jackson Hole 8, Powell 0

Powell’s junior goalkeeper Sean Wagner made 13 saves against Jackson Hole in the Panthers’ first match of the tournament, but he was unable to contain the Broncs’ potent offense in the first game of Pool A play.

Rapp said Jackson “jumped out on us very quickly,” putting the team on its heels early. Rapp said the Panthers regressed a bit on offense and defense, and the Broncs capitalized.

“Defensively, we fell back into some bad habits, like stabbing at the ball instead of standing our man up,” Rapp said. “Offensively, there was too much dribbling and not enough quick passes, which was caused by a lack of movement off of the ball. There was lots of effort, but not directed at the appropriate tasks.”

Powell 4, Evanston 1

The Panthers rebounded in their second Friday match, routing Class 4A school Evanston.

PHS senior Heston Swenson dominated with three goals, one in the 18th minute off a Trey Ouellette assist, another at the 24th minute from TJ Abraham and his third on a penalty kick (drawn by Abraham). Junior Kristian Stenlund fired in another Abraham assist midway through the second half to account for the final score. It was a triumphant return for Abraham, who was forced to miss the Jackson game after receiving a red card against Worland on April 14.

Wagner collected 10 saves for the Panthers.

Coach Rapp said the strong performance was a direct result of a learning experience against Jackson Hole.

“The boys took their lessons from the Jackson game and directly applied it,” Rapp said. “... lots of possession off of quick passes. It was probably the best game we’ve played this year.

“The boys just came out and attacked early and often. Obviously, big games from Heston and TJ, but Alex (Bjornestad) had a great game at sweeper. Trey and Kristian controlled the midfield and Owen (Dent) and Brian (Crawford) attacked and defended well on the edges.”

Cody 3, Powell 1, shootout (2-2 tie in regulation)

Thanks to their 1-1 record, the Panthers moved into the silver bracket. In its first game Saturday, Powell was unable to replicate the strong performance it used to defeat Cody in Powell on April 2, falling to the Broncs 3-1 in a shootout following a 2-2 tie in regulation.

“We out played Cody in the first half and then got comfortable just defending in the second half,” Rapp said.

That became evident after the Panthers lost a 2-0 lead in the second half. Alex Aguirre used an Ouellette assist 20 minutes into the game to put the Panthers ahead 1-0 before Ouellette turned a free kick into the two-goal edge. But with 10 minutes to go in regulation, Cody notched two straight scores to force overtime.

“We held barely any possession in the second half, and a miscommunication between me and one of our captains led to Cody’s second goal, which was a PK,” Rapp added. “It was the first penalty shootout many of the guys have been in, so it gave us some good experience. We talked about the lack of closing out a game, not just this one, but the Worland game too (in which Powell led 1-0 before allowing a goal with four minutes remaining before losing in overtime).”

Wagner saved 23 Cody shots.

Powell 2, Star Valley 1

In its final tournament game, PHS built an early lead and held on late.

Ouellette scored on another free kick — this one from 35 yards out — 36 minutes into the match, and Dent added an unassisted tally in the 70th minute to back Wagner, who made 15 saves.

“The Star Valley game was windy, and our goal was to hold a 0-0 score at half until we got the wind to our backs,” Rapp said. “Trey gave us a better look by hitting a beautiful 35-yard free kick into the far upper corner going into the wind.

“Owen scored a beautiful goal from some distance.”

The Braves broke up the shutout with nearly seven minutes left in the match, but there was no late-game breakdown for Powell as the Panthers left Worland with a win.

“The guys worked hard on tired legs and played the correct way for the entire second half,” Rapp continued. “The win gave us third place in the silver division, which was a lower placement than we were looking for going into the tournament, but it was still a good weekend.”