GREEN RIVER – It was not the return the Rock Springs Tigers were looking for as Green River used a big first half to take the first meeting of the season, 6-0.

For Green River, they opened with a close conference win over Evanston but lost two and tied one during the three games at the Casper Jamboree. On the other side, the Tigers opened strong at the Jamborees winning one and tying the next two. Right before heading into Springs Break, the Tigers lost a close conference battle with Riverton on the road, 1-0.

Both teams started aggressive but the Tigers let a quick one get by as Taten Knight found Tanner Trumble for a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes. Tiger Head Coach Sean Grube said he watched as his players heads dropped after that first goal and it “snowballed” for Rock Springs from there.

Seven minutes after the Trumble goal, Green River’s Kamden Carroll found himself out in front of the Tiger defense and fired a bullet from about 20 yards out which caught the left side of the goal.

It was just a couple of minutes later, the Rock Springs defense again struggled to clear the ball in front of the net and Carroll scored his second goal in a five minute stretch. At the 25 minute mark, Carroll completed the first-half hat trick. The Wolves again worked the ball deep in the box and was awarded a corner kick as the Tigers fought to try to clear the ball. Kyle Goglio took the corner kick which found Carroll’s head which found the back of the net.

Green River was not done as they completed a strong first half as Taten Knight added to his earlier assist. With five minutes left in the half, Knight found Goglio on a corner kick who added a goal to go with his earlier assist giving the Wolves a big lead at the break, 5-0.

Tiger Coach Sean Grube said half was spent talking about playing with pride and “playing Tiger soccer.” It worked as the Tigers came out of the break aggressive on offense. After only giving up three goals in their first four games to start the season, the Tiger defense also came out with that early season fire and held the Wolves offensive attack off the board for most of the second half.

While the Rock Springs offense controlled the ball more in the second half, those early season scoring problems again caught up with the team. With 13 minutes left in the game, a Tiger foul in the box led to the only goal of the second half as Chase Erickson scored on the penalty kick giving the Wolves the 6-0 win.

Several times after the game, Wolves Head Coach Chris Bieber said the Wolves played a complete game on Thursday. He said while it’s always nice to start 2-0 in the conference and shutout the Tigers, he said there is still many games left to go.

While the Wolves played a strong game, Bieber said there are always things they can improve on. He too noticed the second half the Tiger offense had as said the Wolves need to continue to pressure the ball and cut it off better for the entire game.

While happy about the turn-around, Grube said they need to continue to work on the offensive side of the ball. He said in the second half, the Tiger’s offense controlled the ball and they were able to move it.

“We need to final step and find what it’s going to take to get the ball in the net,” Grube said.

Both teams will return to action April 14 in conference match-ups. Rock Springs will take the home field for the first time as the host Evanston while the Wolves will hit the road for a battle against Riverton. The Wolverines hold a non-conference Jamboree win as they beat Green River 1-0 in Casper.