TORRINGTON – After conceding the first goal 12 minutes into the game, the Torrington Trailblazers boys’ soccer team put six goals in the back of the net to secure a 6-1 win over Gering, Neb. on Tuesday at home.
“I was very impressed with the way the team showed up to play tonight,” coach Jesh Arnusch said. “I though tonight was our most balanced attack yet. We did a good job of spreading the ball around and making demanding runs.”
Because of the constant drizzle on Tuesday, wet and slippery conditions allowed the ball to find its way to the front of the Torrington goal and Gering capitalized, taking a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.
Seven minutes after the Bulldog goal, Nathan Stitt hit a pass through the defense to a slicing A.J. Shields, who converted the pass into a goal, knotting the game at 1.
“We just came back as hard as we could,” Stitt said of Torrington’s response to giving up the first goal. “It shows the winning mentality of our team and seeing that first one go in gave us confidence.”
Still in the first half, Link Jirasart took a shot from a wide angle that bounced off the Gering keeper and went in for his first goal of the season.

Just before halftime, Chase Berguson left his position in the back line and made a run up the sideline with the ball and delivered a cross to Anthony Munoz, who punched in the goal to give Torrington a 1-0 lead at the break.
“I was very impressed with A.J. Shields and Anthony Munoz, as they took their tactics to heart and played very well according to our game plan,” Arnusch said. “It was nice to see A.J. play with such intensity.”
Shields, Jirasart and Munoz all scored their first varsity goal of the season in the first half against Gering. Torrington scored four goals before Tuesday, all of which came from Stitt.
“I was happy to see some of the other guys score. Some of them it’s their first career goal,” Stitt, who has dominated the scoring column so far this spring, said. “It’ll be easier going forward now that they have scored.”
Stitt got into the scoring action in the second half, knocking through a ball that slipped through the Bulldog defense 10 minutes into the second period. Less than eight minutes later, he took a shot from over 20 yards out that bounced off the post and found its way to the back of the net.
Rounding out the scoring, Jirasart put a chip shot over the Bulldog goalie and scored his second goal of the night and season.
Stitt and Jirasart each had two goals against Gering, with Shields and Munoz adding the other two. Ethan Creagar had two assists to his credit, with Berguson, Stitt and Devin Flores each accounting for one.
After giving up that first goal and surviving the early storm by the Bulldogs, Torrington kept Gering out of its attacking third for much of the rest of the game.
“I was also very impressed with how Ethan, Nathan and Devin held their triangle and rotated based on what they were seeing both offensively and defensively,” Arnusch said.
Between the pipes, Tyler Ring racked up seven saves.
The Blazers took on Douglas on Thursday after the press deadline. Their next competitive action comes on the road against Newcastle on Tuesday. The JV game is at 4 p.m., with the varsity contest slated for 6 p.m.