MVHS Girls Get Growth At Mesquite Tournament

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

Each year, the Mesquite Cup tournament serves as an opportunity for the Moapa Valley High School Girls Soccer team to face the toughest competition and set a bar for where the Pirates might be before the regular season starts. This year the competition was just as thick as it has been in the past.
The Pirates started the weekend with two tough games on Friday evening. Moapa Valley would take on Northland Prep (AZ) and Legacy.

The Spartans of Northland Prep won the state championship for their division in Arizona last season. Now the Pirates were provided an opportunity to take on this year’s squad. Ultimately, the Pirates left disappointed after a huge loss. But their difficult road didn’t stop there.

Awaiting Moapa next would be Nevada 4A team, the Legacy Longhorns. The Longhorns would handle the Pirates as well. But ultimately, the Moapa team was focused on improving before anything else.
“It’s always the same in this tournament,” said MVHS head coach Lisa Cornwall. “If you look back at past years, we usually play hard teams and I don’t mind that. It was difficult but it’s a wonderful tournament for the girls to see what they need to do.”

Cornwall analyzed the team’s weaknesses and strengths as well. “As far as being in shape, that wasn’t a problem,” she said. “It was just some technical stuff we needed to work on. We’ll have to work on some basic skills to do better in the future.”

On Saturday, the Pirates were scheduled with just one game. In this one, Moapa took on Sunrise Mountain.
The Miners happen to be the team that ended the Pirates immaculate season last year. But that was not on the team’s mind. The Pirates focused on getting better for the preseason and their emotional vendettas against Moapa took the backseat.

Trailing 2-0 entering the second half, the Pirates were on their heels. An Italia Bracamontes goal made things closer but ultimately the Miners got the best of the Pirates.
Cornwall said that her team left optimistic, though. “If we would have played ten more minutes, we probably could’ve beat them,” she said.

As for the emotional effect of last season’s playoff game in the Sunrise Mountain game, Cornwall cast that idea aside. “I didn’t even feel it, and usually I feel right with the girls,” she said. “I think they all left that game thinking, ‘We’re going to beat them in league,’ and I agree.”

One of the key differences in this year’s Pirate team is the number of young athletes on the field. Cornwall has focused on putting those players on the defensive end. The likes of Skotlyn Hill, Jerzi Anderson, Ellie Cornwall, Bailee Andrew, Makenzie Staheli, and Madi Fairchild, have already impressed.
“Our defense is a bit younger but really I’m making a shift for the older girls to get out so we can be ready for next years coming,” Cornwall said. “I wouldn’t do that if it hurt my team, so I want to see younger girls with playtime in there.”

Offensively, Cornwall expects her team to be a little more creative to get points on the board. “We’re going to have to work as a team to figure out how we’re going to get the ball in the back of the net,” she said. “It’s going to be a bit different but I think we already found it.”