MVHS Girls Soccer Beats Mojave, Loses To Sunrise Mtn.

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

After a couple of losses at last week’s season opening Mesquite Cup, the Moapa Valley High School Girls Soccer team was in search of a bounce back game. They certainly found it.
The Pirates traveled into Las Vegas on Monday, August 28, to take on the Mojave Rattlers. The Pirates scored an impressive amount of goals.

The entire game, the Moapa team was putting pressure on the Rattlers defense. It resulted in a flurry of scores. On the defensive end, Moapa held their opponent scoreless and dominated the game.
When the final whistle sounded, the Pirates held onto an 8-0 victory, one of their biggest in the program’s recent memory. Included in the eight goals were three from Christie Ericksen, pulling off the rare soccer hat trick.

The Pirates’ impressive performance did not go unnoticed by head coach Lisa Cornwall. “I think the girls really just worked well together,” she said. “We were able to relax, have fun, and play the game. When they can do that, goals happen.”

As for the defensive end, the Pirates put on a good performance as well. “I just think the defense was communicating really well,” Cornwall said.

Following the big win on the road, the Pirates returned home two days later for their home opener against Sunrise Mountain.
In the first half, Sunrise Mountain was set up for a corner kick. After the kick, a mishandling of the ball by MVHS goalkeeper Jessica Leon gave the Miners a goal scoring opportunity. So they started the game with a 1-0 lead.

The Miners would then build on that lead in the first half after scoring two more to give themselves a 3-0 margin at half.
In the second half, the Pirates allowed two more goals, and were held scoreless yet again. The final score would be 5-0, a polar opposite of the performance the Pirates had earlier in the week.
“The win against Mojave was great, but it set us up for underestimating Sunrise Mountain,” Cornwall said. “It was upsetting for the girls to have that good win and then turn around and lose.”

On the defensive end, Moapa Valley surrendered five goals against the Miners, while holding Mojave to a shutout.
Cornwall said the game against Sunrise Mountain came with significance of its own. “It was like a wake-up call,” she said. “They realized in that game, that it’s not just the defense. It’s a team sport, and we’re failing in all parts when we give up a goal.”

The Pirates head coach also talked about the factor of weather in their first few games of the year, considering the blistering Nevada summer has yet to fade away. “It’s been very hot these last few games,” she said. “Heat is always a factor when you’re playing in 110 degree weather; it’s so difficult.”