EVANSTON — Following a single day of being able to practice outdoors, the Lady Red Devil and Red Devil soccer teams traveled to Afton for conference games with Star Valley. The guys lost a 3-0 decision to the Braves to fall to 0-3-1 in the 4A west and 0-5-1 on the season. The Herald will catch up with Red Devil soccer head coach Brian Richins in an upcoming issue.

The Lady Red Devils, meanwhile, are 0-3-1 in conference play and 0-4-2 on the year. Evanston also tied with Natrona County on March 23 in a non-conference clash. While still seeking the elusive first win, Lady Red Devil head coach Karalyn Barton was pleased with the overall performance by her team.

“We’ll take it. We’ll take a point,” Barton told the Herald. Teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a tie and one point for an overtime loss in conference play.

“I thought we played well. We switched up our formation from what we had been doing during every other game this season and it was definitely the right decision, as it gave us more options in the middle of the field,” Barton added.

“It was amazing how well we adapted, especially given the amount of practice time we’ve had outside,” the coach affirmed. 

“We were connecting on passes really well. Our possession was not super strong, but we had a controlled attack. I’m really quite surprised that we did not score,” Barton avowed.

The coach explained that she had just glanced over the game statistics, but  she believed Evanston had 13 on-goal shots compared to Star Valley’s three, unofficially.

Barton credited the Star Valley team for working hard and being a team that doesn’t foul much.

“They’re a great team to go out and fight against in trying to get that win,” Barton stated.

Star Valley is 0-2-2 in the 4A West and 1-4-2 overall, and the Lady Braves also ended in a deadlocked game with Natrona County, 1-1.

The Lady Red Devils, along with the Red Devil soccer team, are scheduled to host the first of three consecutive homestands beginning this Saturday, April 13, with the Jackson teams due to invade the Evanston Middle School soccer field ,with the varsity games set for 1 and 3 p.m., weather and field conditions permitting. As of press time, the Herald had not received any notification of postponement, but with the most recent snow storm and snow-covered field, that could come to pass.

Barton stated that she did not know what to expect from Jackson, in part due to the Jackson teams’ limited schedule so far, and the fact that that JHHS is coming off a two-week spring break. She did say the team is very well coached and has a tendency to come on strong in the latter stages of the season. 

The Evanston teams are also scheduled to host the two Casper schools next Tuesday and Thursday, beginning with Natrona County.