After a slow first half, the No. 4 Warriors pick it up in the second half

WORLAND - For the first half in their match against the Douglas Bearcats the No. 4 Worland Warriors were out of sync and having troubles finishing off goals.

Going into halftime the Warriors were leading 1-0 off a Rylan Macko free kick in the 41st minute but were not playing to their potential.

Coming out of the break the Warriors were focused and for a majority of the second half enforced their will on the Bearcats on their way to a 3-1 victory Friday night at Worland High School.

"We played a lot better in the second half than we did in the first half. We've talked about playing all 80 minutes but it didn't seem like we had that much energy in the first half. Some of that comes down to leadership and after halftime we got that leadership out there," said WHS boys soccer coach Ron Overcast.

The Warriors play in the second half was much sharper as they were able to score twice to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Wyatt Wyman scored in the 52nd minute and not long after that Mason Werbelow scored in the 54th minute.

The Warriors also got a boost from senior keeper Coy Larkins who made several big saves on the night, one of which was a on a penalty kick, frustrating the Bearcats.

"Coy had a great game, he saved that penalty kick and made some other big saves. Those types of plays are what you need from your keeper, making plays that keep you in the game and Coy was able to do that," said Overcast.

The Bearcats were able to get a goal in the 74th minute but overall their play on both ends in the second impressed their coach.

"Defensively, until the very end, our back four played really good defense. As a team we played great team defense. Then on the attack, we scored three different goals by three different players with two different players assisting. It's really nice when you can have multiple players score because it makes it much tougher for your opponent to defend you. That was what I liked the most from [Friday's] game, our team defense, scoring distribution and Coy's play," said Overcast.

During practice this week the Warriors put an emphasis on communication which shined in the second half but not so much in the first.

"The back four were talking really well. Again I thought our communication was better in the second half than in the first half. Now we need to get our midfielders talking and everyone communicating. In the first half we were too quiet and it goes back to our energy. We missed a couple of goals that we should have had and they let that affect them. But we talked about that at half too; we have to keep shooting and they will go in," said Overcast.

The Warriors will close out the regular season against Buffalo at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Worland High School in what will also be senior night. With only a day of practice the focus will be the same as usual for Worland, working on bettering themselves.

"The focus again is going to be focusing on ourselves and getting better. Buffalo is usually athletic and big but we can't worry on that we just have to work on our communication, passing and defense. We have to build off of {Friday's] win," said Overcast.