TORRINGTON – The Torrington Lady Trailblazers suffered two early goals Tuesday against Gering, Neb., but still put together a solid game, falling 4-1.
“We talked about it on the sideline during the game. For the first time in two years, we had 80 minutes where we continued to build our shape and possession without any setbacks,” coach Travis Rapp said. “Obviously, the score isn’t exactly what we wanted, but that was a very good Gering team we played.”
The Lady Bulldogs stormed out to a 2-0 lead within the first 14 minutes of the game. Gering added another goal in the 30th minute to go up 3-0 and the visitors took that lead into the break. Torrington came out of the break with fire and kept Gering at bay, until the Lady Bulldogs snuck in another goal in the 59th minute. Torrington quickly responded with Dani Masterson creating disruption in the Gering defensive line and getting the ball to Jade Cooper, who found the back of the net. The Lady Blazers had several good looks up the field toward the end of the game, but couldn’t capitalize.
“We got a couple players back in health and eligibility, so that was huge,” Rapp said. “We are getting a lot deeper, where we can stay fresh. I think if we have 10 more minutes in that game, we score a couple more goals.”
Jenessa Derby racked up 12 saves in the loss.
“Jenessa keeps learning back there in goal,” Rapp said. “As we become more comfortable in what we are doing, the girls will make less mental mistakes, which a lot of the goals against us this year have come down to small mental errors.”
The Lady Blazers dropped to 0-4 on the year with an 0-1 record in the conference. They will hit the road Thursday to take on Newcastle with a 6 p.m. start.
“We are hoping to be at full strength, with only two girls looking at still being out due to injury at that point,” Rapp said. “We will try to keep building off what the girls have learned the last couple of games in the next week and a half of practices and move into the meat of our schedule.”
