BIG HORN – Cheyenne East boys soccer coach Ryan Cameron was worried about his team’s effort for much of the first half.
The Thunderbirds looked like they were happy to be playing in the Class 4A state tournament, he thought. They didn’t look like they thought they could win, and he told them as much at halftime.
East was a much different team in the second half of its 2-1 win over West
No. 1 seed Rock Springs at the Big Horn Equestrian Center.
“It was a little bit of a struggle for us to get going in the first half,” Cameron said. “I don’t know if it was the gravity of the moment or what, but we had a hard time getting going.
“We were a lot better offensively and defensively in the second half. We proved that we belong here.”
The match was fairly even in the first half. East put four of its eight shots on goal while the Tigers put three of their six shots on frame. The match was scoreless at halftime.
East dodged a couple bullets in the opening half.
Senior goalkeeper Brenden Hunt charged off his line and outside the penalty area attempting to stop Tigers’ senior Sergio Lemuz, who was well behind East’s defense. Lemuz danced around Hunt’s slide tackle and sent a hard shot just wide of the far post.
Rock Springs had another one-on-one chance late in the first half and sent that shot left of the upright.
“Sometimes that’s just the game,” Cameron said. “Teams are going to get chances against you. Luckily for us, those balls didn’t find the back of the net.
“Quite honestly, we had some chances like that.”
East’s (8-9-1 overall) best chance of the first half came when junior forward Brayden Parker sent a hard shot off the left upright in the 39th minute.
Save for a late flurry late in the match, the T-Birds dominated the final 40 minutes.
They took seven shots with five on goal while holding Rock Springs to four shots and three on frame.
East’s first goal came in the 53rd when senior midfielder Fernando Lechuga’s pass found the feet of a Rock Springs defender. Sophomore forward Jefferson Danso took a misplayed ball from the defender and ended up one-on-one with Rock Springs junior goalkeeper Nic Kautzman. Danso scored easily.
“My coaches are always telling me to stay up, and that’s all I did,” Danso said. “I’m pretty fast, so I can get past defenders when we play the ball up. I just chase the ball down and shoot.
“When I took the ball from the defender, I knew I had a great scoring opportunity and that we really needed me to put that ball in. I was nervous, but I found a way to get it in.”
A nearly similar play helped East notch its second goal.
Instead of scoring, Danso was fouled from behind by Rock Springs junior defender Nick Nelson and the T-Birds were awarded a direct kick from outside the penalty area.
Senior midfielder Dawson Eldred stuffed a hard shot into the left upper corner of the goal for a 2-0 lead in the 66th.
“We did a good job of moving the ball when we had it and of staying compact when we were on defense,” East junior defender Chayce Willett said. “We kept Rock Springs going backwards and didn’t give them much space in the middle of the field.
“We stepped up in the second half and played really well as a team. We were good in the first half and really started picking it up in the last 10 minutes of the first half. We carried that over and were pretty great in the second half.”
East continued to control play until Rock Springs (14-3-2) pushed several players forward in an effort to score. Those efforts paid off in the 80th when senior Hector Quezada sent a thru ball to senior Jesus Chavarria, who beat Hunt.
The T-Birds take on Green River (12-6-2) in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. today. The Wolves upended East No. 2 seed Laramie, 2-0.
EAST 2, ROCK SPRINGS 1
Halftime: 0-0.
Goals: East, Danso (Lechuga), 53. East, Eldred (direct kick), 66. Rock Springs, Chavarria (Quezada), 80.
Shots: East 15, Rock Springs 10. Shots on goal: East 9, Rock Springs 6. Saves: East 5 (B. Hunt), Rock Springs 7 (Kautzman 7, Cornell 0).
Corner kicks: East 4, Rock Springs 3. Offside: East 0, Rock Springs 1. Fouls: East 4, Rock Springs 13. Yellow cards: Rock Springs 5 (Comstock, 26. Stout, 67. Goldman, 68. Kautzman, 73. Vanvalkenburg, 76).
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