JACKSON — Green River closed out the 4A West Regional Soccer Tournament with a pair of third-place victories Saturday, as both the Wolves and Lady Wolves defeated Riverton to secure the No. 3 seeds heading into next week’s state tournament.
The Lady Wolves opened the day with a dominant 4-0 victory, while the Wolves followed with a 5-1 win in a physical boys match that featured multiple yellow cards in the second half.
With the wins, both Green River teams will now advance to state as the West’s No. 3 seeds. The Lady Wolves will face Laramie in the opening round, while the Wolves will play the No. 2 seed from the East Region. At the time of publication, the East championship match between Sheridan and Cheyenne Central had not yet been finalized.
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Green River’s girls controlled play throughout their match against Riverton.
Autumn Sax scored once for the Lady Wolves, while Isa Vasco added another hat trick to continue her standout postseason run. Green River’s defense also delivered a shutout performance to help secure the 4-0 win.
In the boys match, Green River overwhelmed Riverton early.
The Wolves built a 5-0 halftime lead, including three goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half to put the match out of reach before the break.
Braxton Doak led the scoring with two goals, while Tommy Vasco, Niko Macias and Nathan Saldivar each added one.
The second half became increasingly physical, with Green River and Riverton combining for several yellow cards. According to Green River head coach Joe Vasco, the Wolves were issued six yellow cards, while Riverton received around three.
In Wyoming Class 4A soccer, a player who receives two yellow cards in the same match is automatically issued a red card, resulting in an ejection. Any player shown a red card must also sit out the following game, and because teams cannot replace a player ejected by red card, they must finish the match playing down a player.
As the cautions continued to pile up, Vasco made the decision to protect players already carrying yellow cards to avoid possible ejections that could impact next week’s state tournament.
“Given how easily the ref was giving yellows I kept my starters with yellows off the field,” Vasco said. “Could not risk losing a starter for next week.”
The move slowed Green River offensively in the second half, but the Wolves had already built a large enough lead to comfortably finish out the 5-1 victory.
The strong finish capped an impressive regional tournament for Green River, with both teams bouncing back from semifinal losses Friday to secure third place and carry momentum into the state tournament next week.
