Limited substitutes proved to be an important mental test for the Northwest College women’s soccer team, with the Trappers playing two contests in Montana this past weekend against the University of Providence and Carroll College.

“We had two subs the first (game), none the second,” coach Rob Hill said. “It was a real mental test, particularly as the other teams were able to sub and keep fresh, keep their press up and keep pressure on the ball.”

In the first match against Providence, Hill said he felt the team did well to manage the game, keeping possession of the ball.

However, he felt that wasn’t enough for the Trappers moving forward, despite getting a winning goal from Amelia Grace Franklin.

“We didn’t break lines enough. We were too comfortable playing through the defensive third, and while we kept possession, it doesn’t put us in goal-scoring positions,” Hill said. “Mentally, they were tough enough to stay in the game. Got the win off a more direct ball over the top. Amelia finished really well.”

In the second game following a couple of injuries, the Trappers were left stranded with no substitutions, while Carroll continued to rotate players throughout the game.

“They were subbing five, six players at a time. We were very much camped out in our half for long periods of time, but defended well,” Hill said.

Defending their goal much of the time, the Trappers held out Carroll for the most part, with Hill noting the emergence of freshman goalkeeper Coy Erickson despite some mistakes leading to two goals for the hosts.

“We made some silly mistakes for the goals, but Coy did excellent,” Hill said. “I thought that was the coming out of Coy as a goalkeeper. She was excellent, super athletic, made an unbelievable save, was very good and gave the team a lot of confidence. And hopefully herself.”

Over the matches, Hill said he was proud of the team’s mental toughness, and felt there were some positive signs despite having minimal substitutes.

“I was glad to get through that weekend. Told the girls this is the worst it will be,” Hill said. “Very short on numbers, but hopefully that will change this weekend. I was pleased with the girls’ mental toughness. They were able to keep the ball and move the ball particularly well. In transition moments, they defended as they had to. But the goals we conceded were just silly mistakes. Playing with no subs, fatigue is a big factor, so getting players back healthy, getting new players in makes a big difference.”

He said overall he felt the newer players adjusted to the physicality of college soccer well, and believes the fast introduction to the sport with no subs may help in the long run.

“I think they did really well. That’ll hold them in good stead for the games coming up,” Hill said. “They will have subs, they will have a little bit of rest. It’ll feel like a blessing to them when they get that. I thought they adapted well.”

The Trappers head back on the road, this time to Nebraska to start the regular season against a Region IX opponent.

Northwest takes on Western Nebraska Community College in the first regular season game for either team at 1 p.m. on Friday. It will be a nonconference matchup between the two teams with the return contest in early October in Powell.

“I think they’ll get a really good sense of what it’s going to be like to play in region play. These first few games, we’re not too bothered about scoreline, more about fixing errors that we’ve made. So I think the mentality will be a little bit different, a little bit more nerves,” Hill said. “The nerves will be there in the beginning of the game for sure, but I think they’ll adapt. Western Nebraska, you don’t know what you’re going to get. They could be very tough at times, and they could give us a really tough game … We really want to focus on correcting the errors that we’ve been making and try to look towards improving performances.”