The Torrington Trailblazers boys soccer team battled through the wind and spitting rain Tuesday on the road against Scottsbluff, falling 2-1 against the Bearcats.
Despite the loss, coach Jeshua Arnusch saw a lot of good from the Blazer squad.
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SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – The Torrington Trailblazers boys soccer team battled through the wind and spitting rain Tuesday on the road against Scottsbluff, falling 2-1 against the Bearcats.
Despite the loss, coach Jeshua Arnusch saw a lot of good from the Blazer squad.
“Overall, I though tonight was the best ball movement we have had all season,” he said. “We had awesome crosses, great drops and we switched it up from the inside-out and vice versa. We also played great defensively and we did a solid job of rotating, while sagging back against their speed. Overall, in my opinion, this was hands down our best game of the year as a team.”
Scottsbluff was able to net a goal late in the first half. Torrington had the wind at its back in the first half, but was unable to find the back of the net, putting the Blazers at a 1-0 disadvantage at intermission.
Nathan Stitt got the Blazers on the board with a converted penalty kick in the second half, tying the game at one apiece. The Bearcats quickly rebounded with another goal to take the lead and Torrington was unable to answer, falling 2-1.
In addition to Stitt, Arnusch noted the efforts of Braeden Claussen and Tristen Kingsley.
“(Claussen) covered a lot of ground and was relentless both offensive and defensively,” Arnusch said. “If he can continue to bring that energy to our team, it will really benefit us in the long run.
“It was also really nice to get Tristen Kingsley back and healthy. When he is in the lineup, he definitely makes us better,” Arnusch added. “His ball control and speed is something we want to capitalize off of and he made an immediate contribution to our attack tonight.”
Kingsley and Claussen both spent a large amount of time in the midfield for the Blazers. Arnusch was impressed was his midfielding unit as a whole.
“I thought my midfield played extremely smart and stayed disciplined to their assignments, while showing to our back line,” he said. “It was exactly what I had been waiting to see from these guys and something I knew we were capable of pulling off.”
Between the pipes for the Blazers, Daeden Morrow had four saves and Lathen Canaday kicked in another three.
The loss puts the Blazers at 6-4 on the year, with a 1-0 record in the quadrant. Torrington returns home Friday to play Douglas at 6 p.m., followed by a quadrant road game Saturday against Lander, with a 12 p.m. start time.
“Unfortunately, we just didn’t come out on top. Sometimes that will happen, but we need to move on and get ready for Douglas and Lander,” Arnusch said. “If we can find a way to beat Lander, we will be exactly where we want to be in our quadrant.”
