ROCK SPRINGS – For the first half of the season, soccer teams around the state have made adjustments, learned from mistakes and have learned each others strengths and weaknesses. Now it is time to put it all together.

For the Rock Springs Tigers and Green River Wolves, the final stretch of the season officially began as the two rival teams battled each other Thursday. The match marked the start of the second half of the season.

The Tigers have put their offensive struggles behind them and entered Thursday’s contest on quite a roll. In the last seven games, Rock Springs has won five, tied one and lost one. There loss came the last time they were on the field as they were blanked by Natrona on Saturday.

During this stretch, the Tigers offense has come alive scoring 15 goals. The defense has been solid all year and during the same stretch has only allowed six goals. Three of the six came against the loss to Natrona.

This stretch also includes a Pinnacle Cup Silver Bracket title as well.

For the Wolves, it too has been a first half which has seen a lot of success. In the last eight games, Green River has won six. This also includes a Gold Bracket Pinnacle Cup title. Both losses in the past eight games have been conference losses against Riverton and also against Natrona this past weekend.

Over the eight-game stretch, the Wolves offense has been dominating time of possession and goals scoring 25 of them. Like the Tigers, the Wolves defense has also been strong and over the same span only allowed eight goals. Also included in this time frame was a 6-0 win over the Tigers in meeting number one.

After last weekend, Wolves Head Coach Chris Bieber was proud of the recent play and positive heading into the Rock Springs battle.

“It was a very good weekend for us. Unfortunately, we did not get the result that we wanted on Friday but we proved our competitiveness and drive are constant,” he explained. “The win over Kelly Walsh was a compilation of hard work and determination.”

With the Casper split, Bieber did not see much a difference in the Natona loss and the Kelly Walsh win. He said the main difference was the Wolves got their heads down after a questionable call in the box against Natrona.

Green River took this positivity on Thursday and scored with only three minutes gone in the first half against Rock Springs. The quick start did not shake Rock Springs as seven minutes later, Jeremy Weber used his head on a corner kick to even the game at one. For the next 30 minutes, the game would remain even.

Coming out of the break, the Wolves again looked to send an early message. Tanner Trumble, who had a big weekend against Casper, went to work. With seven minutes gone in the second half, Trumble took a corner kick and was able  to put Green River back out in front.

For the next 20 minutes, the Wolves defense was able to maintain the one-point advantage but could not add do it either. It was not until the 70-minute mark until the next goal would be scored. With 10 minutes left, the Tigers had a corner opportunity. The corner kick found Sergio Lemuz who was able to even the game at two.

Knowing time was running out, the Tigers took the Lemuz momentum and looked to stay out of another overtime game. With seven minutes left, Baldi Rodriguez did just that. He fought through for the Tiger goal.  the defense held the rest of the way as the Tigers got a little revenge with the 2-1 win.

While the Tigers got back at the Wolves in the second game, the Sweetwater Cup the two teams play for each year is a combination of the two games. Scoring a total of seven goals, the Wolves took control of the Cup for the 2014-2015 season.

While happy with the win, Tiger Head Coach Sean Grube said the teams needs to continue to move forward and not be satisfied.

“This was the first game of the second half of conference play. We need to keep pushing and keep getting better each game,” Grube said. “This was a huge win to start the second half but we can’t just be satisfied. We have to keep striving to get better.”

Overall, Grube said his young team is continuing to mature.

“To start, a lot of my players lacked any Varsity experience prior to the season,” Grube explained. “Being their first year of play at this level we have had our ups and downs for sure. Today (Thursday) we kept our composure and were able to play together as a team.”

Both teams will have the weekend off before a busy last two weeks. The Tigers will return to the field as they will hit the road for the Casper run May 8 and May 9. They will face Kelly Walsh first before looking to get a little revenge on Natrona the following day. On May 12, they will again be road trippin’ as they head for Evanston before wrapping up the regular season at home against Riverton on May 16.

The Wolves will also be on the Casper swing with Natrona on May 8 and Kelly Walsh on May 9. Green River will then travel to Evanston on May 14 before wrapping up the season at home on May 15 against Riverton.