Blustery conditions along with a stingy defense led to a hard-fought victory for the Panther boys’ soccer team, as three first-half goals pushed Powell past rival Cody on Friday at home.

The Panthers (10-1-1 overall, 8-0-1 3A West) started out with the wind at their backs, as they tried to break down a difficult Bronc defense (4-5 overall, 4-4 3A West).

Powell dictated the possession of the game, as it pressured Cody early.

Despite controlling the possession, Powell was unable to find quality finishes on the end of its crosses and through balls.

“They put a lot of guys in the box, and it was difficult to break down,” Panther boys’ soccer coach David Gilliatt said. “We knew what they were probably going to do with us: get the low block in and try to counter us; we worked a lot on that and how to break that down.”

Midway through the half, Powell finally got its breakthrough.

Senior Hawkin Sweeney took advantage of the wind and hit a curling effort around the Bronc defense into the bottom right corner of the net to give Powell a 1-0 lead.

The Panthers did not have to wait long for a second.

Just 30 seconds later, sophomore Gunnar Erickson tried from 25 yards out and his shot found the top right corner of the net as Powell took a 2-0 lead in the blink of an eye.

Powell appeared to get its third goal with 14 minutes remaining as senior Kaleb Brown found the back of the net off a scramble in the box, but unfortunately for Brown, fellow senior Keaton Rowton was called for handling in all the confusion, and the score remained 2-0.

Powell again thought it had its third goal, as a penalty kick was called for a foul in the box.

Senior Garrett Morris stepped up to the spot and blasted it past the Cody goalkeeper but was told to retake the penalty kick as the ball was rolling due to the wind.

After a minute of trying to get the ball to stay on the penalty mark, Morris took his second shot, and the keeper saved the shot diving to his right.

Just before the half, Powell finally had a third goal.

Sophomore Chance Franks again turned to the long range effort, as he blasted a shot outside the box across the frame and into the back of the net with 2:48 left.

“We got it in as deep as we could and just started shooting at that point,” Gilliatt said. “It is tough to break them down when their defensive line is at the penalty spot. I don’t fault them for doing that. When you are down a couple key players, that’s what you have to do.”

In the second half, Powell continued to control the pace — despite playing into a strong wind for a large majority of the half.

As the wind settled down, Powell found more chances, but the main chance of the second half from Sweeney went wide after he chipped the keeper with 13 minutes left.

Cody found chances from long free kicks, but a majority of the opportunities sailed long on the Broncs.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the second half, as the strong first half was enough for the Panthers to walk away and remain undefeated in conference play.

FINAL HOME GAMES

Powell wraps up its home campaign this week, as it starts with senior night against Lyman (1-9-2 overall, 0-6-2 3A West) on Thursday at 6 p.m.

“I hope to see us make good quality passes in the final third of the field,” Gilliatt said. “I want us to have more composure in front of goal. I think we have the tendency to create a lot of chances but don’t have the composure we should.”

The final home game of the season is on Friday, as the Panthers host Mountain View (0-7-1 overall, 0-6-1 3A West) at 6 p.m.

Powell then heads on the road to finish its regular season next week on Thursday in Worland against the Warriors (10-0-1 overall, 7-0-1 3A West) with the 3A West title likely on the line.

POWELL 3, CODY 0

Goals — Hawkin Sweeney 1, Gunnar Erickson 1, Chance Franks 1

Assists — Gunnar Erickson 1

Saves — Holden Cooper 6