Challenging opponents resulted in another pair of shutout losses for the Powell High School boys’ soccer team. The Panthers lost on the road to Cody 7-0 last Tuesday before suffering a tough 2-0 loss at home to Worland in the snow on Thursday.

CODY 7, POWELL 0

Wrapping up the first half of the conference season the Panthers (3-5 overall, 2-4 3A West) went to Cody to take on the Broncs (6-0-1 overall, 5-0 3A West).

Cody got on the board first, scoring on a good shot outside the box seven minutes into the game.

Another shot went just wide a minute later, and the Broncs finally added a second through continued pressure 17 minutes in on a breakaway.

Cody hit one more off the post in the half that didn’t find its way in, and Powell had decent chances but couldn’t find one as the score remained 2-0 at the half.

The Broncs scored early and often in the second half, as a squared ball in the box was tapped in, and two more in rapid succession made it 5-0 just past the midway point of the half.

“The biggest thing that we fell short on in the second half of the Cody game was our lack of marking. We got beat 1-v-1 in situations out wide, which will happen sometimes in games, but our cover players were often too far away and more important, we failed to mark up runners in the middle leading to easy goals for Cody,” coach David Gilliatt said. “They would get to the goal line and make a simple pass to an open player on the 6-yard line. Really fundamental breakdowns on our part but that is also something that is easy to fix.”

Powell’s best chance came from a Gianreye D’Alessandro shot that hit off the crossbar, before the Broncs added two more off a cross and a penalty with nine minutes left to make it 7-0.

WORLAND 2, POWELL 0

Returning home on Thursday the Panthers took on the Warriors (5-3-1 overall, 4-1 3A East) in a nonconference matchup.

After a scoreless first half,  both teams looked for a winner in the second half, as heavy snow persisted throughout the game.

“Really tough conditions although Worland was playing in the same storm. We just needed to do a better job of getting goals in the first half when we had the wind and snow at our back. We did have some good positives to take from that game, and a couple things to work on still,” Gilliatt said. “Defensive shape was better and communication was also improved. We just have to stay switched on for the entire game. One lapse in concentration or one moment of rest when we should be working can lead to a quick goal against us.”

Worland got on the board just a minute into the second half, as the Panthers were unable to create a number of chances against the visitors.

The Warriors sealed the game with seven minutes left, as the Panthers were shut out for a third consecutive game with a 2-0 loss.

LANDER TODAY

The Panthers will remain at home for another game to start the second half of the conference schedule at 5 p.m. today (Tuesday).

Powell will be hoping to generate more offense, as the Panthers have gone cold since a four goal second half against Lyman on April 17.

“I think we were creating more chances earlier in the season but our finishing was poor at times. So we focused on finishing. I would argue our actual chance creation now has decreased so we will likely shift focus back to creating quality shooting opportunities,” Gilliatt said. “It’s tough because our focus has mostly been in counter-attacking and you can’t drill fast break finishing from midfield for two hours every day. So we break down different segments of the counterattack in practice and will try to improve our scoring record in matches.”

Hoping to get back on the board the Panthers will take on the Lander Tigers (7-2 overall, 4-1 3A West) with Powell hoping to neutralize the visitors.

“They bring a lot of offense of course so we will hope to neutralize that as a team and create our own scoring chances when possible,” Gilliatt said. “I’m hoping we can have a bit more possession like we did against Worland.”