OGDEN — The Ogden Outlaws ran into the wrong opponent Saturday evening.
Faced with the task of trying to snap a five-game winless streak, Ogden took on the Boulder Rapids Reserve, holders of first place in the Heartland Division and one of the hottest soccer teams in the PDL.
The Outlaws played reasonably well, but it wasn't enough. Boulder pounced twice, early in the second half, and coasted to a comfortable 2-0 win, which eliminated Ogden from playoff contention.
"They know what to do," Ogden coach Mike Hickman said of the Rapids. "They're running around. They're organized."
Boulder took permanent control of the game early in the second half. First, Richard Higa finished a sweet attacking move by the Rapids. Martin Duran sent a ball across the field to the far post, which Robert Findley headed across goal toward Higa, who headed it in.
"Until they got the first goal," said Hickman, "it was back and forth."
Shortly after that, Leo De Barros converted a penalty kick to double Boulder's advantage.
The Outlaws actually played quite well during the early stages of each half. However, as has been the case on several occasions this year, they couldn't stick it in the net.
Ogden has been working to add a pair of talented players to its lineup. Bret Shimizu, a Roy High product who plays for Stanford University, and James Jaramillo, who prepped at Mountain View High and will play at UCLA next fall, have added quality to the team. Still, there's definitely been a learning curve for the rest of the Outlaws.
"We've got to get guys to move more off the ball," Hickman said.
Saturday's match was Ogden's final home game of its inaugural season.
"I appreciate (the fans) coming out and supporting the team," Hickman said.
Ogden next has a two-game road trip to Southern California this weekend. The Outlaws will close out the season against rival BYU on July 22.
Now that the Outlaws have been eliminated from the playoffs, what will be the focus of the squad?
"The goals are the same — we wanna win every game," Hickman said.
OUTLAWS 4, BLIZZARD 3: On Friday, the Outlaws narrowly fell to Colorado Springs. Ogden was sluggish throughout the first half and found itself down 3-1 in the 54th minute.
Shimizu, Stephen Phillips and T.J. Waters each scored once for Ogden.
E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com