Lady Warrior Shelby BecksteadBy Jason Parshall
Sports Editor

JACKSON — The Lady Warriors closed out the regular soccer season Saturday with a 2-0 loss in Jackson.

The Lady Broncs scored their first goal off a penalty kick and their second off what Worland head coach Bryan Allen said “was just a nice shot.

“It was a good game for us though,” the coach continued. “We played well. We had to rest a couple of girls for most of the game due to some injuries. And we didn’t want to push it too hard knowing our seeding for state already. But the game as a whole was played pretty well for Worland.”

Jackson secured the No. 1 seed from the West for state Thursday evening when they knocked off Cody 6-0. Despite the loss, Worland will enter state as the No. 2 seed after having a successful year with an overall record of 8-4-2, five wins stronger than Worland girls soccer has ever managed.

Allen said one of the contributing factors to the loss was that the girls had to play on artificial turf for the first time. “Our girls had never played on turf before so it was a little different. The ball moves a little faster and the game is played at higher speed, so it took some getting used to. But to play a team as strong as Jackson on their field that close was an accomplishment. We were just looking for more consistency heading into state. I think overall it was a good day for us.”

The Lady Warrior JV tied Jackson 2-2. Goals were scored by KieLee Ellsworth, who only played ten minutes in the game, with an assist from Ashley Apland, and by Carly Trombley with an assist from Morgan Peterson.

The JV team also took on Pinedale Friday, winning 4-1.

“These were our last games of the year for the JV,” Allen said, “and they went out and just played great. It’s been really fun to watch them all year. The game was a little up and down against Jackson, but the girls just played great. We had just ten girls against their 11 and they played them very close.”
Worland will begin the State 3A Girls Soccer Tournament Thursday when they take on Newcastle at 11:30 a.m. in Laramie.