Hoping to build on a pair of strong showings at home, the Evanston High School boys’ soccer team welcomed Green River and Rock Springs to Kay Fackrell Stadium last week for back-to-back 4A West Conference matches and a chance to make up some ground in the playoff chase.

It wasn’t to be. After taking a 2-0 lead against Green River Thursday, the Red Devils saw it slip away in a 5-3 loss. Friday’s match against Rock Springs saw the Red Devils fall behind 3-0, but battle back with two goals late in the second half to cut the lead to 3-2. The Tigers went on a 3-goal tear over the final 15 minutes, however, returning home with a 6-2 win.

“I feel like we showed moments of what we can really be,” said EHS head coach Brian Richins, “especially against Green River. That first half, we were just going. And then to have given up the goals that we gave up, and to have come up on the other end of that — It was really disheartening, because I really feel like we played quite good soccer for a large portion of that game. So that one was a little tough to take. The Rock Springs game — I mean, Rock Springs is a good team. I think highly of their coach and I think highly of their team. We had a much harder time getting possession of the ball – they’re a tougher team to get a possession off of. But I thought we showed some real resilience to come back and get those two goals. But just looking at film, there’s just way too many missed opportunities.”

The Red Devils will have an opportunity to make up a little ground this week, though it won’t be easy; they’ll travel to Afton Thursday for a rematch with Star Valley, then host No. 1-ranked Jackson Saturday, in a pair of games chock-full of playoff implications.

“Star Valley — that’s a must win now,” Richins said. “We’re in seventh place. The only way we can get out of seventh place is if Star Valley does not win another match. And we have to beat them and Natrona County. You have to stay out of seventh and eighth, because those two teams will play each other on the Tuesday of Regionals to see who gets to go and play second place, which we assume will be Kelly Walsh. So the best way to get to state is to get into that sixth spot, where you play No. 3, which is probably Rock Springs. Which is not an impossible thing — we haven’t shown it to be highly probable either, but it’s a much more optimistic matchup. So we’ve got to take care of business here in the next four games.”

Rock Springs 6,

Red Devils 2

Squaring off against Rock Springs on Friday, the Red Devils fell behind 3-0 by halftime, though they weren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

With 18 minutes and change left in the match, Eldon Hogman scored his first goal of the season on a corner kick, heading the ball into the top right corner and past the Rock Springs keeper, cutting the lead to 3-1.

Less than a minute later, Clayton Cook scored his first goal of the season on a similar play, heading the ball in on a corner kick to pull Evanston within a goal with just over 17 minutes to play in the contest.

That was as close as the Red Devils would get, however, as Rock Springs played the press to their advantage, scoring three more goals before time expired to win 6-2.