MOUNTAIN VIEW —MVHS Lady Buffalos soccer team grabbed the golden ring, notching a win last Saturday and earned a berth at the 3A state soccer tournament this week in Green River.

This win, coupled with the loss of Green River to Powell moved the Lady Buffs into the #4 slot of the 3A West, and them going to the state tournament.

The Buffalos weren’t close to the golden ring, but have drastically improved over the course of the season, finishing with a 4-9 record, with some of the losses proving to be heartbreaks in the shootouts in overtime.

Mountain View girls played their first game yesterday as the 4W team against 1E Worland at 11 a.m. If Mountain View won, they will face the winner of the Buffalo/Powell match at 2 p.m. today. If Mountain View lost, they play the loser of the same match today at 9 a.m.

Mountain View stepped on the pitch with a 7-6 record, while Worland has notched a 11-2-1 record.

The state championship bracket is set for a two-loss elimination.

As for Mountain View girls soccer, this is the third time the team has made it to the state tournament in the last three years. Soccer is a relative new sport for Mountain View as the school didn’t field a team until 2019.

“Yes, I am super proud of the girls making it to State again! In three years as a varsity team, we have found ourselves there each time, pretty awesome accomplishment for sure,” MVHS head coach Jess Moretti said Tuesday afternoon. “We have had some adversities this season, losing some important players...but the girls continued to battle, improve and adjust to the changes as they have come our way. Proud of their efforts and the teammates they are to one another.”

Headed into state tournament, Cody has been #1 in the girls’ matches in the West and in 3A, amassing a no-loss season. Cody and Powell were in second and third in the West.

The MVHS soccer teams took on the Lander Tigers last week on Friday on the Buffalo pitch. Both Buffalo teams took a clipping. The boys team lost a heartbreaker. The had put the first score on the board, followed by a second goal in the first half, keeping the Lander Tigers scoreless by the Buffalos strong defense.

The Lander Tigers buckled down in the second half, notched five goals and held the Mountain View Buffalos to one goal. When the game ended, the Tigers took the win, 5-3.

As for the Lady Buffs, although they took multiple goal shots during the match, but they couldn’t get the shots to connect and put goals on the scoreboard.

Back on the pivot in Pinedale, the Lady Buffs needed to ace the match to grab the gold ring, which would give them a berth at the state tournament this weekend. And grab, they did as they took the match 3-0. This gave the Lady Buffs a 7-6 overall and a 6-6 conference record.

The Lady Buffs took to the pitch in Pinedale determined to notch a win. Within the first seven minutes of the first half, Lady Buff Cami Kenison took a shot and placed the ball in the net for a goal for Mountain View. The teams changed control of the ball, and Ashlee Tims was hot as goalie stopping the shots by the Pinedale Lady Wranglers. The Lady Buffs tried to ace more shots, but they couldn’t connect with the net. The score at the end of the first half was 1-0.

In the second half, Kenison again aced a goal in the first five minutes of the half. A short time later Ali Walker notched another goal for the Lady Buffs, bringing their score to three with 32 minutes left in the second half. Although this was the last of the goals for the Lady Buffs, they continued to hold Pinedale scoreless in the game. And, due to the action on the field, some of the younger players were given time on the pitch to gain experience in action.

Pinedale’s action on their side included good work by their goalie, keeping shots by Mountain View from entering the net. With two minutes left in the second half, Pinedale received a free kick, but couldn’t capitalize. The score at the end of the match was 3-0. Mountain View girls had grabbed the golden ring and a trip to the state tournament.

The MVHS Buffalos boys soccer team aced their game against the Pinedale Wranglers and took the win 2-1 in overtime. The Buffalos ended the season with a 4-9 overall and a 3-9 conference record. They ended up fifth in the 3A West so their game against Pinedale ended the Buffalos action on the pivot this season.

The teams battled back and forth trying to set up goal shots and make a score in the second half. Both teams were hot on defense and kept the other team from making a goal. With 5:11 left in the second half, Walker took the ball all the way down field and it looked like it might be another score for the Buffalos, but the Wranglers put the stop on the action. The Buffalos tried to work the ball around near the goal, but were unable to put it in the net. The score at the end of the second half was still 1-1.

Due to regulation play this year, that put the teams into the shootout. Each team got five balls and a chance to put the ball into the net. Mountain View started with Piekkola netting the first shot while Pinedale missed their first shot. On the next four shots, Mountain View aced three of the four balls, and Pinedale hit all four. This gave both teams sinking four of five balls.

Sudden death was next. Connor Antonino was given the honors for Mountain View. He placed the ball in the net. This meant Pinedale was in a do-or-die situation. A Wrangler stepped up to the line, set up, took his shot and missed. The MVHS Buffalo took the game 2-1 following the shootout and sudden death.