Warrior defense put to the test on final day of the Pinnacle Cup

WORLAND - Defense untested is no defense at all.

While adjusted from the original saying, it proves true. If a team has championship aspirations their defense needs to be tested and for the Worland Warriors that test came on the second day of the Pinnacle Challengers Cup at Worland High School.

As a team that prides themselves on stingy defensive play the No. 3 Warriors would have their defense put to the test as they faced two 4A teams on the final day of the Pinnacle Cup.

The Warriors met the challenge head on and passed the test by playing excellent defense against No. 5 Rock Springs and Evanston.

"We played great defense. The 4A teams play outstanding defense and those teams are always big and strong. We hung in there with them, never gave up and kept working hard. We had a couple of chances to win both games but we didn't. The shootouts certainly didn't go our way but I was really proud of the effort and the way our guys played today," said WHS boys soccer coach Ron Overcast.

Against the Tigers the Warriors were able to battle to a 1-1 tie and a 0-0 tie vs. the Red Devils, both in regulation. The Warriors offense did not have as many looks on goal against Rock Springs and Evanston but did have shots to win that just missed.

"[Saturday] was a great experience for us; 4A teams are defensively sound and we're going to face that in 3A too. Cody is a really good defensive team and so are Riverton, Lander and Torrington. We got a lot of good experience from [Saturday's] games. We need to link up a few more passes, have our wingers bend their runs to get really wide and we'll be fine," said Overcast.

With the weather still uncooperative, Saturday's matches were played with Friday's rules of 30 minutes halves and any tie at the end of regulation going directly to a shootout. Ending in a 1-1 tie vs. Rock Springs the Warriors had to win the shootout to move on to the Pinnacle Cup championship.

Unfortunately, the Warriors lost the shootout 3-2 sending them to the third-place match against Evanston. With the match vs. the Red Devils also going to a shootout the Warriors got another chance to grab the victory.

The ball would not bounce the Worland's way as they lost the shootout 4-2.

"We'll probably move away from penalty kicks for now but as we get closer to state we'll work on them more. Everyone thinks those are so easy but they're not, but it was also great experience for the kids too. They had to step up there with the game on the line and try to execute. So hopefully if we find ourselves in this position again we'll handle it better.

The Warriors have excellent senior leadership but are a young team. Despite their youth Worland has been playing beyond their years.

"Coach Wyman was telling them they're not young anymore. We may be a young team but we're halfway through the season and guys are getting it. Devin Mercado has been absolutely outstanding for us and Wyatt Wyman has been playing great too," said Overcast. "The main thing I hope they take from this, and something we've been talking about all season, is that self-belief. Believing in yourself and believing in your teammates, because this team has a really high upside. We just have to keep working hard, stay determined and keep improving.

This week the Warriors have one match on the schedule which will be in Riverton against the No. 4 Wolverines at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

"They're an outstanding defensive team, they just came down from 4A and have the defensive mentality. They have a sweep that's huge and they're solid defensively and they like to counter-attack on you," said Overcast. "They also have three fast guys at the top that we'll have to deal with, it's going to be a really tough game. It will be another one of those games we're going to have to go out there and grind it out."

*Sports Editor's Note* The Worland Lady Warriors lost 4-1 to Rock Springs in the semifinal match of the Todd Malonek Southwest Invitational Saturday morning.