GREEN RIVER – While most of the high school soccer teams around the state are taking advantage of the shorter jamboree games to shake off the rust, the Green River squads jumped in with both feet this past Friday.

Not only did Green River open the season on Friday, they also opened conference play on Friday as they hosted Evanston. The Wolves took the field first while the Lady Wolves headlined the show.

The first half of the Wolves game is what one would expect in the opening game of the season. Both teams used the first half to get back into the swing of competitive play. While both team had scoring opportunities, the game went to half without a goal on either side.

Starting the second half, it did not take the Wolves long to get the first goal of the season. After a Evanston penalty, Green River’s Chase Erickson blasted a penalty kick past the Evanton goalie to take a 1-0 lead with only two minutes gone in the second half.

Green River continued to attack with several shots but none were able to find the back of the goal. While Evanston did not have many opportunities offensively for most of the second half, they took advantage when they were able to. The Red Devils were able get their first goal of the season to even the match with 24 minutes left in the game.

Again, Green River continued to attack and with only 3:30 left in the game, Taten Knight gave Green River the lead, 2-1. Knight’s goal proved to be the difference as the Wolves held to take the first win and the first conference win to open the 2015 campaign.

Green River Lady Wolves

The Green River Lady Wolves looked to build off a solid season last year. The ladies knew getting off to a strong start would be important.

Green River controlled the ball almost the entire first half. When the ladies of Evanston were able to move in, the Lady Wolves defense quickly turned Evanston away. Although Green River controlled the game, they were only able to get one goal in the first half. McKenzie Lucas scored in the 14th minute as the Lady Wolves took a 1-0 lead in the half.

The ladies came out of the break looking to attack the goal and did just that. Four minutes in the second half, Lucas found Payton Bartlett who found the back of the goal. At the 55th minute, Lucas scored her second goal giving Green River the 3-0 lead.

Evanton continued to struggle with the Lady Wolves defense while the Green River offense continued to fire. At the 59th minute Lucas led Chezney Mamalis who blasted it by the goalie from 15 yards out. One minute later, the Lady Wolves added an insurance goal as Lexi Vaught found Mamalis breaking toward the goal and Mamalis nailed her second goal of the game.

Lucas finished with two goals and two assists while Mamalis also opened the 2015 season with two goals for Green River.

Casper Jamboree

After opening the season with a win, the Green River squads joined most of the other teams around the state at the Casper Jamborees. Instead of 40 minutes halves, the jamboree games were 26 minute halves.

The Lady Wolves opened with a familiar opponent as they faced conference foe Riverton in a non-conference game. The ladies continued to look strong winning 2-0. Another conference opponent was next as Green River faced Natrona. The Fillies were able to take a tight one, 3-2, in another non-conference battle. The final game was against Sheridan and the Lady Wolves were shut out, 2-0.

For the Wolves, the opened the Jamboree against Sheridan and battled to a 1-1 tie. In the next game, Gillette was able to get a two-point win, 3-1. In the final game, Green River was blanked by conference foe Riverton, 1-0, in a non-conference game.

Up Next

With students enjoying Spring Break, Green River will have a break from competitive play. The Wolves and Lady Wolves will return to action April 9 as they will travel to Rock Springs for the first meeting of the year with their I-80 rivals.