THS soccer swept by Rawlins

Blazers to play Green River in first round at state

Andrew Towne
Posted 5/16/23

RAWLINS – The Torrington High School soccer teams closed out the regular season with a pair of losses at the hands of the Rawlins Outlaws last Thursday.

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THS soccer swept by Rawlins

Blazers to play Green River in first round at state

Posted

RAWLINS – The Torrington High School soccer teams closed out the regular season with a pair of losses at the hands of the Rawlins Outlaws last Thursday.

In the boys’ game, the Blazers fell 5-1.

“We had the two seed locked up no matter what, and we played like that,” coach Gabe Bartlett said. “We came out flat, and never did get our footing. We didn’t get off the bus ready to play.”

The team’s lone goal came courtesy of Greysen Shields on a corner kick by Anthony Arnusch.

The Blazers now prepare for the 3A State Soccer Championships this weekend in Green River.

“I don’t think we will think about it all that much,” Bartlett said of the Rawlins loss. “It’s always good to finish on a winning note, but the boys understand we weren’t real happy with how they played. They weren’t either.”

As a result, Bartlett said the team is ready to turn the page and get the bad taste out of their mouth.

Torrington will spend the week preparing in Yoder on Southeast High School’s turf football field.

“It helps us a lot,” Bartlett said. “It helped us a lot last year when we went to Cheyenne.”

The coach doesn’t feel like it will be an issue despite playing only one game on turf this season.

“The only problem with going to Southeast is, you have no goals,” Bartlett said. “We’ll throw up a goal and make it as real as possible.”

The Blazers are scheduled to play tournament host Green River at 2 p.m. Thursday at Green River High School.

“They have a relatively good midfield,” Bartlett said. “Their guy who plays up top is really fast. They play similar to what we do. Their midfield can control it, and they like to pass it around a little bit.”

Bartlett said the speed of Braxton Cordova will be a challenge for the team’s defensive line. Cordova currently ranks tied for fourth in Class 3A with 13 goals scored to go along with five assists this season.

Torrington has never played Green River as this is the first year the Wolves are in 3A after playing in 4A in year’s past.

“We know Lander. We know Powell. We know Cody, but this will be a different element,” Bartlett said. “We match up with them pretty well from the little I’ve watched.”

Lady Blazers end season winless

The Lady Blazers ended the season with a 7-0 loss to the Rawlins Lady Outlaws.

“The Rawlins match, we had a pretty good first half and struggled during the second half,” coach Dave Cummings said.

They finished the season 0-12.

“I’m proud of the girls for how much they have grown from the beginning of the year to the end of the year,” Cummings said. “I know the scores might not look like that, but this group has a tremendous potential going forward.”

It also marks the end of the careers for a pair of three-year starters for the Lady Blazers in Elle Tapia and Jade Brothwell.

“(Jade) is going to play on next year at WNCC in Scottsbluff. It’s going to be fun to continue watching her to participate and grow at the next level,” Cummings said. “Elle has decided to go on to Black Hills State. If she had a body the size of her heart, she’d be playing soccer at the Division I level or possibly higher. She has a phenomenal attitude and a really fun person to coach. That girl doesn’t know how to stop. It’s been a real pleasure coaching both of them. I wish I could have had them for four years, but the circumstances prevented that.”