Panthers come up short at home

Posted 3/20/18

Both teams came to Powell ready to play. The Panthers dropped a 3-2 nail-biter to Pinedale in overtime on Friday, while Star Valley took an 8-0 win on Saturday.

“It was very educational,” Dent said of the two games. “I have a very young …

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Panthers come up short at home

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Powell High School boys’ soccer coach Jeff Dent knew going into the weekend’s season-opening games against Pinedale and Star Valley that his young team would have its hands full.

Both teams came to Powell ready to play. The Panthers dropped a 3-2 nail-biter to Pinedale in overtime on Friday, while Star Valley took an 8-0 win on Saturday.

“It was very educational,” Dent said of the two games. “I have a very young team — I have 11 freshmen and just three seniors — so it makes for a new team. They haven’t played together a lot.”

With only 10 days to practice before the season started, Dent said his team had little time to scrimmage before Friday’s opener.

“Coming up into the high school program from Heart Mountain, the intensity is different; trying to get them up to speed is difficult,” he said. “But we practiced hard, and did a lot more conditioning that they’ve done in the past. We saw the benefit of that in both games, so I’m happy for that.”

Pinedale 3, Panthers 2 OT

Powell drew first blood in Friday’s game against the Wranglers, as junior Rob Sessions scored the Panthers’ first goal of the season at about the 20:00 mark of the first half.

“I haven’t had Rob [Sessions] for the last couple of years,” Dent said. “This year, he’s able to be on the squad, and he’s an asset and a light to the team.”

Both teams exchanged scoring opportunities before Pinedale evened the score with 10 minutes left in the opening frame. The teams went into the half knotted up at 1-1.

Powell re-took the lead in the second half on a goal by freshman Sam Bauer.

“I put Sam [Bauer] up towards the front because I had used him last fall in some Heart Mountain games,” Dent said. “I had seen that he’s hungry for goals and that he could handle the ball, so putting him in that game was a good idea. It also made me see that I need to use some of our freshmen a little bit more.”

The Wranglers would again tie the game with a goal at the 30-minute mark, and after 10 more minutes of scoreless play, regulation ended with a 2-2 tie.

With 1:09 left in OT, Pinedale pulled ahead, 3-2. The Panthers were unable to counter in the time remaining, and Pinedale held on for the win.

“We did not play up to our potential like I was hoping we would,” Dent said. “It was not a controlled game; it was a lot of booting and chasing. I thought we should have scored a lot more than we did. I was a bit disappointed in the play, but it was an education for both them and me.”

Dent was pleasantly surprised by the play of his freshmen as five of them saw significant playing time — including Jack Pool, who started the game.

“Each and every one of the freshmen who played stepped up and played very well,” Dent said. “It’s a good feeling to know you can count on the younger guys when you need them.”

Senior Gabe Katz started for the Panthers in goal, finishing with 12 saves.

“Gabe did an excellent job in there,” Dent said.

Star Valley 8, Panthers 0

The Panthers ran into a bit of a buzzsaw on Saturday against Star Valley, but despite the lopsided score, Dent was encouraged by the effort his team displayed on the field.

“I saw a vast improvement in the players,” the coach said. “I moved a couple of guys around, and I saw a marked improvement in the team in that they played hard.”

The Braves controlled the tempo from the outset, jumping out to a quick lead and going into the half with a 5-0 lead.

“They [the Panthers] were shell-shocked the first 10 to 20 minutes. You could see they weren’t completely prepared for the contest,” Dent said of his squad. “At the same time, once they got over that shock, we got down, started controlling the ball and working the ball around the field.”

Dent played three freshmen in the first half, and said each provided a spark for the team; he continued to rotate in the younger players in the second half. He said the move helped the coaching staff to solidify positions moving forward.

“We got to play all of our freshmen that we could play in a varsity game,” Dent said. “We found some positions we believe the boys are going to stay in, and there’s a couple of other positions that are still up in the air.”

Freshman Ashton Brewer started in net for the Panthers, and despite a rough start, played the entire game.

“Ashton really stepped up and did a really good job for his first varsity game against a top-notch team,” Dent said. “I ended up keeping him [Brewer] in for the whole game, which some people might question, but I wanted to seed how he would respond. At halftime, he was still upbeat, he was still going hard, and at the end of the game he was ready to play, ready to keep going. He did an excellent job.”

The Panthers will have the week to regroup before hosting Riverton Friday.

“I see areas that the team needs to work on this week to get them more proficient with their ball skills, and with each other,” Dent said.

The coach said the team will work on more finishing drills to take advantage of scoring opportunities, and becoming more patient with the ball.

“The whole team did step up this weekend and played great, from my seniors down to my freshmen,” Dent said. “We have a young team, but we have a solid team. We’re going to just continue to grow.”

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