A match that could have boosted the Northwest men’s soccer team to the No. 7 seed in the Region IX playoffs left the Trappers with the No. 8 seed and searching for answers after losing to Central Wyoming 3-0 on Friday.

Throughout the first half the Trappers (4-10-1 overall, 1-7 Region IX) enjoyed strong spells of possession against the visiting Lancers (4-10-1 overall, 2-5-1 Region IX).

Unfortunately for Northwest, a final product was unable to be found as the Trappers were unable to convert in the final third of the field.

“We had a majority of the possession and had a chance to put people in good positions, but the final ball was not good,” coach Rob Hill said.

Shortly before half Northwest conceded its first goal, giving Central momentum heading into the break.

That one goal proved to be a significant difference, as Hill said he felt the play drop off to start the second half — which allowed Central to find a second goal on a corner kick.

Northwest again was unable to find any significant chances in the final third, as the Trappers finished with four shots on goal for the contest.

“If you don’t put anybody in good positions to score then you aren’t going to score,” Hill said.

Central got its final goal with just minutes to go, putting away Northwest and dropping the Trappers to the eighth seed in the playoffs.

With that eighth seed, Northwest now heads down to Casper on Saturday to open the postseason against No. 16-ranked Casper College (13-3-1 overall, 6-1-1 Region IX).

“The results have not been good against Casper so far,” Hill said. “The guys understand what is at stake … Casper is a very good team with very good players but they are a team we can compete with.”

Casper defeated Northwest in Powell 5-2 on Sept. 13, before winning the reverse fixture 7-1 on Oct. 8 in Casper.

Northwest now heads into Casper with an opportunity to pull off an upset Saturday at 1:30 p.m.