After a strong opening weekend victory, the No. 1 ranked Panther boys’ soccer team hit the road on Friday and Saturday to take part in the Pinnacle Cup in Worland. The Panthers continued their strong start defeating Newcastle 8-0 and Torrington 2-1, but fell to Worland in the championship game, 1-0, to finish second.

Powell 8, Newcastle 0

In their first match of the tournament, the Panthers (3-1) came up against an unfamiliar opponent in Newcastle (0-3), which Powell had not faced under head coach David Gilliatt. 

“It was nice to see an opponent we haven’t seen before,” Gilliatt said.

The Panthers came out firing fast and often, as senior Hawkin Sweeney continued his early season scoring spree, finishing with five goals against the Dogies to bring his season total to nine.

Senior Keaton Rowton added another two goals to his tally, and junior Colton Brewer scored his first goal of the season as the Panthers cruised into the semifinal in an 8-0 shutout of Newcastle.

Powell 2, Torrington 1

In the semifinal, Powell faced No. 3 ranked Torrington (2-1) in what proved to be an early season test.

At the beginning of the contest, the Panthers pushed the ball and appeared poised to control the contest throughout. 

The early pressure on the Trailblazer defense paid off, as senior Kaleb Brown scored his first goal of the season to give Powell a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.

After the first goal, however, Torrington settled in and controlled possession for extended periods of time as they grew closer to a response.

The Trailblazers appeared to get an equalizer 12 minutes into the contest after a breakaway up the left side of the pitch. Fortunately for the Panthers, though, the winger for Torrington was offside in the build-up and Powell retained a one goal advantage.

After that point the teams exchanged possession control, as pressure began to build at both ends of the field.

Powell extended its lead after 25 minutes, as sophomore Gunnar Erickson found Rowton on a chipped through ball up the left wing. Rowton slotted it past the Torrington keeper to make it 2-0.

The Panthers controlled possession for the first five minutes of the second half before Torrington created real pressure.

A foul outside the box led to a free kick for the Trailblazers, who took advantage of the position and scored to make it 2-1 with 19 minutes left; it was the first goal the Panthers allowed on the season.

Torrington continued to mount pressure on the Panthers, as Powell was unable to find passes consistently.

“I think our pass accuracy started to fail. We were watching the ball too much and we were dribbling it more than we should have,” Gilliatt said. “That is not how we practice, and I am not sure what prompted us to carry the ball more than we should have but in the second half is where we did that and they [Torrington] took control of the game.”

Powell was able to create chances and withstand the push from Torrington. A Trailblazer protest for a penalty in the final minute was not called and the Panthers survived and advanced to the championship with a 2-1 victory.

Worland 1, Powell 0

In the championship, the Panthers came up against a familiar opponent in the hosts and No. 2 ranked Worland (3-0) — a team that PHS hasn’t beat since 2014 and that hasn’t been beaten by anyone since 2017.

The first half saw both teams hold possession for extended periods — they were scoreless after the initial 30 minutes — but Worland had the better chances on goal.

Early in the second half, Powell connected better from the back as they transitioned forward and pressed the Warrior defense.

Worland settled in, though, and started to attack the Panther defense, drawing a free kick just outside the 18-yard box.

The Warriors drove the free kick under the wall into the far left corner to take a 1-0 lead with 11:30 remaining.

“I would rather not give up a goal in active play or a penalty. For it to be off a free kick just outside the box then, that shows where we need to improve,” Gilliatt said. “Credit to the defense for not conceding a goal in active play yet, but we need to work on set piece defense, good to get it exposed early on to know what we need to work on.”

Powell nearly had a quick response, as a scramble in the box led to an effort that went off the crossbar and bounced out.

The Panthers were unable to generate significant chances on goal the rest of the way, and Worland walked away with the 1-0 win.

“I am excited to play them again,” Gilliatt said of the Warriors. “My guys are well equipped to deal with adversity. I tell them often that setbacks are a key part of the recipe to success. You need that setback to grow and if we kept winning, then there is no motivation or reason to regroup and figure out what we need to improve.”

CODY MATCHUP

The Panthers have a small amount of time to regroup, as they head to Cody today (Tuesday) to take on the rival No. 5 ranked Broncs (1-1) at 5 p.m.

Powell hopes to recover from their first loss of the season and move to 2-0 in conference play.

“Best thing we can do is play again as soon as possible,” Gilliatt said, “and we are excited to do that.”

POWELL 8, NEWCASTLE 0

Goals — Hawkin Sweeney 5, Keaton Rowton 2, Colton Brewer 1

Assists — Garrett Morris 2, Sweeney 1, Rowton 1, Holden Cooper 1, Chance Franks 1, Kaleb Brown 1

POWELL 2, TORRINGTON 1

Goals — Brown 1, Rowton 1

Assists — Gunnar Erickson 1