By Alex Kuhn
Sports Editor
Warriors win another close one, defeat Buffalo 2-1
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DAILY NEWS/ Alex Kuhn
Warrior Kyle Lamb watches excitedly as the ball bounces out of the reach of the Buffalo keeper and toward the goal during the Warriors 2-1 win over the Bison Tuesday night at Worland High School.
Warriors win another close one, defeat Buffalo 2-1
WORLAND - The Worland Warriors have been playing in tightly contested matches all season long and they're beginning to turn winning these close contests into a team skill.
Tuesday night was no different as Worland hosted the Buffalo Bison on senior night. The Warriors beat the Bison 2-1 in a match that had a lot of close calls and that had the coaches and fans all sighing in relief as the referee sounded the match was over.
"We do what it takes to win," said WHS boys soccer coach Ron Overcast when asked about his team's ability to win tight matches. "I think sometimes the team gets frustrated and at times they don't appreciate it because we only won 1-0 or 2-1. Just the grit of these guys is great, they stay determined and stay together, grinding it out to find ways to win. Even the four games we've lost have been by one goal. It's who we are and we need to embrace that and, again, it's about that blue-collar work ethic."
Senior Gavin Weyrich put the Warriors on the board first in the 11th minute with a free kick, which was placed closer to midfield than the goal, then ricocheted of a Buffalo player and rolled past the outstretched hands of the Bison keeper into the bottom left corner of the goal.
After that early goal the Warriors struggled for the remainder of the half as Buffalo controlled the match and evened things up at 1-all in the 38th minute.
"I think we missed a couple of shots early in the game and I could see the frustration start settling in. We missed a couple of balls that we should have scored and Buffalo was beating us to the ball. You could just see our energy level drop. The guys at halftime pulled together and came out in the second half with great energy and did not let the frustration get to them. Then we were able to put the ball in the goal," said Overcast.
Out of the break Overcast made an adjustment switching freshman Devon Mercado up to right wing and moving Matt Gesch to the back line.
"We brought Devon [Mercado] up to one of our wings and Matt [Gesch] to our back line. Devon gave us some energy and gave us that pop we were looking for. We wanted to place some balls behind Buffalo and with his speed he was able to get to them. He really got everyone going in the second half with his play and did a really great job," said Overcast.
With the adjustment and uptick in energy the Warriors were able to dominate the second half.
Even when they missed a few goals the Warriors didn't let it bother them instead they refocused and went back on the attack.
"We've seen it several times this year where we weren't able to finish. For some reason in the first half we were frustrated with it but in the second half they overcame that and kept attacking," said Overcast.
In the 68th minute the Warriors had a corner kick and after freshman Wyatt Wyman sent the ball into the box the Bison were unable to clear it. That's when Gesch was able to fight through a scrum of bodies to strike in the match's deciding goal.
Tuesday night senior Warriors Cody Baumstarck, Kyle Lamb, Coy Larkins, Keller Rogers, Nick Schriber and Gavin Weyrich were honored for their contributions to the program.
"It's always sad. I've had the seniors for four years and they've come to a lot of open fields and they're good leaders and examples for the younger kids. They're just really good kids and it's sad to think that this was their senior night but we're going to try and make it four more games with them," said Overcast.
Postseason Newcastle
Next up for the Warriors will be the 3A state-qualifying match against the Newcastle Dogies at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Warriors have previously faced the Dogies this season and won 5-1 on April 7. But Overcast wants his team to put that out of their minds and focus on taking care of business on Saturday.
"It's all for real now. It's doesn't matter if we beat them earlier in the season. The only thing that matters is the game on Saturday in how we come out and play. We're going to work on Wednesday, work on Thursday, work on Friday then be ready to go on Saturday. There are no do-overs now and if we play to our potential we'll be OK," said Overcast.
*Sports Editor's note: The Lady Warriors were defeated by Buffalo 5-1 in Buffalo on Tuesday night. A full recap will be in Thursday's edition of the Northern Wyoming Daily News.
