SHERIDAN – The struggles for the 4A west teams at the Wyoming State Soccer Championships continued on Thursday as the Rock Springs Lady Tigers lost to Cheyenne East in the opening round, 6-1.
For the past six years on the ladies side, the east has swept the west teams in the opening round of the state tournament. The Lady Tigers entered as the top seed and looked to end this trend right off the top.
The Thunderbirds, the fourth seed from the east, opened strong against the Lady Tigers. Karly Thompson and Sydney Miller had Cheyenne East up 2-0 within the first 15 minutes of the game. Offensively, Rock Springs was shut down in the first half as they only managed one shot on goal.
Coming out of the half with the 2-0 lead, East opened the second half the way they started the game. In the first minute of the second, Abby Morillon made it 3-0. It only took a few minutes after goal three for the Lady Thunderbirds to add their fourth.
Halfway through the second half, the Lady Tigers would finally break through the defense. Madisyn Cantrell found an opening and put Rock Springs on the board. That was the bright spot for the Lady Tigers.
East added two more goals in the final 20 minutes to take the opening-round win, 6-1. Morillon finished with a hat trick for the ladies of East.
Rock Springs will hit the field on Friday looking to keep its season going. They will face Kelly Walsh at 9:30 a.m. The Lady Trojans were also shut down by second-ranked Laramie, 5-0. KWHS holds a 2-1 series lead on Rock Springs this season. The Lady Trojans won both regular-season meetings, but the Lady Tigers got them when it counted in the 4A West Regional Tournament.
