Taking a quick break from conference action the Northwest College men’s soccer team went on the road for an exhibition match against a Region IX foe on Friday, defeating Central Wyoming 3-0.

NORTHWEST 3, CENTRAL WYOMING 0

In Riverton on Friday, the Trappers (1-1-4 overall, 0-0-1 Region IX) and Rustlers (1-3 overall, 1-1 Region IX) went to battle in an exhibition match.

Northwest started out on the front foot, finally finding the back of the net in the 30th minute.

That goal came courtesy of Jack Kuspert, who slotted home a penalty to make it 1-0.

Getting on the board first has been a priority recently for the Trappers.

“We’ve been struggling with scoring the first goal, we’ve always conceded the first goal,” coach Rob Hill said. “The positive from the game is that we scored first. Even though it was a penalty, we still had to convert it.”

It took until the second half to find another goal, when Pedro Nunez scored off a Luc Haller assist in the 53rd minute to make it 2-0.

Pedro Miguel Vilaca Teixeira sealed the deal for the Trappers with 11 minutes left, finishing an Axel Lopez assist to make it 3-0.

“I thought there were periods in that game where we looked really, really good. Then at other times we kind of looked a bit complacent and I think that’s just about being consistent throughout the 90 minutes,” Hill said.

Northwest outshot Central 16-5, and won the corner battle 4-1.

Harvey Bolland recorded the only two saves for the Trappers in the clean sheet.

“I was pleased overall with the fact that we broke that duck so to speak by not conceding first, and managing to put more than one goal on the scoreboard,” Hill said. “I think there were lots of building blocks to build off of, I thought we were very good defensively.”

In addition to having a strong defensive game, Hill said the game was a chance to get in some players further down the roster.

“I got to see a lot of players that maybe haven’t played as much, especially since the Lamar game got canceled or postponed,” Hill said. “It gave me the chance to see some other guys play that I haven’t really seen a lot of minutes from.”

HOME CONTESTS

After the quick road trip the Trappers return home this weekend to take on a pair of Region IX opponents from southern Colorado on Friday and Saturday.

Northwest will first take on the Trinidad State College Trojans (0-5-2 overall, 0-2-2 Region IX) at 3 p.m. on Friday, before taking on the Otero College Rattlers (2-1-1 overall, 2-1-1 Region IX) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Despite a losing record from Trinidad and close results by Otero, Hill said these will be two difficult contests for the Trappers.

“There are two very hard games,” Hill said. “I think this whole weekend will be tough and I think it’ll put us back on track in the conference.”