Pirate Boys Soccer Plays Hard Against Basic

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

The Moapa Valley High School Boys Soccer team played its first game of the young 2016 season last week. Moapa Valley opened up the season Thursday on the road against Basic High School in Las Vegas.
Going into the game, Basic was suffering from an ongoing losing streak that stretched over multiple years. They were determined to put that streak to an end.

Meanwhile, the Pirates were motivated as well. They wanted to start off their season on a positive note.
Basic went up 2-0 going into the halftime break. Things weren’t looking too great for the Pirates.
However, the Moapa team rallied to make the match close in the second half. The Pirates scored two goals in the half and held Basic to just one. Both second half goals were scored by Israel Rubio, with assists by Josh Lee and Bryan Robles.

Ultimately, Basic hung onto a slim lead, as they finished with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Pirates.
“We started out just tentative; it’s our first game,” said Pirate Head Coach Jared Bushman. “By the end of the game, we were in control, but it was too late.”

Bushman said that his team was a much different team in the second half of the game than in the first half.
“In the second half, we got some more balls and we settled down and played a little more intelligently,” he said. “Our positioning and communication was a bit better as well.”
Bushman said the biggest difference between winning and losing in that game was generally unfamiliarity. “We didn’t know our roles very well,” he said. “We were trying out some new things, so we missed out on some of our responsibilities.”

Bushman had high praise for Bryan Robles, saying, “[Bryan] played intensely on the defensive end and on the offensive side of the ball.”
He was also proud of the performances by Isaiah Fairchild and Gabriel Hernandez, even adding that Hernandez “probably had the best game he’s ever had.”
Bushman seemed to have learned a lot about his team specifically in the area of how much stamina the team has. “The number one thing we don’t have is a lot of subs,” he said. “So I questioned if they could play eighty minutes. In this game, they answered that they can, and they can play hard for eighty minutes, and that’s a huge positive.”

On Thursday, the Pirates will get a rematch with the team that beat them in the season opener. The Pirates will face off against Basic again with an opportunity to improve and fix their mistakes of a week prior. The players will be in high anticipation, as it will be sure to be yet another close match.