By Connor Gray, Senior Reporter
The Lady Rangers finished road games against Midwestern State and New Mexico Highlands.
The Lady Rangers played their toughest non-conference opponent, Midwestern State, Thursday in Wichita Falls, Texas, losing 4-0. Then they went to Las Vegas, New Mexico, and rebounded from the loss, winning 4-0.
The Lady Rangers continued to struggle with Midwestern State.
Northwestern and Midwestern battled throughout the first, but the Lady Rangers gave up a goal 19 minutes in.
The rest of the half was deadlocked until the final eight minutes of the half when the Mustangs got another goal.
The second half was a completely different game, as the Mustangs dominated most of the second half and picked up two more goals to seal it away.
The Lady Rangers had chances to score, but an offsides call and solid defense from Midwestern prevented it from happening. The final score was 4-0 Mustangs, making Northwestern 2-2-1.
“They were a quality opponent we wanted to test ourselves against,” Alex Piekarski, the head coach of the Lady Rangers, said. “We definitely found some things we need to work on. We need to find a way to put in a good 90 minutes of soccer.”
The Lady Rangers had some chances in the game to put pressure on Midwestern and get a couple goals but did not capitalize on those opportunities.
“We need to continue to work better on defense as a team,” Piekarski said. “It takes 11 players to defend and to attack.”
The team then turned its attention to New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Despite the long trip and high elevation, the Lady Rangers bounced back from Thursday.
The Lady Rangers came out aggressive offensively, getting their first goal 12 minutes into the match to make it 1-0. Fewer than 10 minutes later, Carlie Massingale scored finding the back of the net.
About 30 minutes later, Massingale made the third and final goal of the half, giving her another goal. The Lady Rangers went into half time up 3-0, outshooting the Cowgirls eight to one in the first half.
Not even two minutes in the second half, Massingale got a hat trick with her third goal that gave the Lady Rangers a 4-0 win.