Seniors Help the Plainsmen Get Back to State

The Laramie Plainsmen accomplished one of their goals Friday. They qualified for the state tournament with a 3-0 victory over Cheyenne East.

Laramie scored three times in the first half and wrapped up second place in the 4A East Conference. That translated to an automatic bid to the state tournament in two weeks, plus a bye in the first round of the regional tournament next week. Both events are in Sheridan.

Plainsmen head coach Dan Benford said after Friday’s match that the big picture was to make sure they reached state.

“That’s been our focus all year, getting this team back to state after missing it last year. Absolutely getting the win today gets us back there, and that’s what we came out to do today.”

Laramie also sent their nine seniors out on a high note.

Senior Lucas Thorsness took some pressure off on senior day, when he scored in the sixth minute.

Fellow senior Anthony Castano scored twice in the three minute span. He tallied in the 25th minute on an assist from Cameron Campbell. Castano then converted a penalty kick in the 27th minute.

Thorsness said to go out victorious on senior day, “That was really nice. A lot of us will never play on this field again and in front of these people, so it meant a lot to win, I think.”

Benford admitted he couldn’t say enough about this nine-member senior class.

“Being a head coach and taking over a program, the seniors are the ones that are going to make or break your season… They all got on board, and they’ve been great. It’s been such an easy transition.”

The Plainsmen finish the season at 11-3 overall and 7-2-0-1 in conference. Their league record equates to 22 points, which was two better than Sheridan for second place.

Laramie will face the winner of the Sheridan-Cheyenne South match in Friday’s regional semifinal. That match is at 3 p.m.