Pirate Boys Soccer Team Suffers Tough Losses

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

The Moapa Valley Boys Soccer team faced a series of setbacks last week from which they hope to recover soon. Two critical games against the talented Chaparral Cowboys and rival Boulder City Eagles landed in their opponent’s favor.

The first game of the week came against the Cowboys of Chaparral played at home on Tuesday, October 2. Hoping to pull off the upset against one of the division’s top contenders, the Pirates came in with high hopes. However, Chaparral came out strong early and set the tone.

An impressive cross pass from the sideline gave the Cowboys a goal just minutes into the match. More followed. Just minutes later the Cowboys would score again, and yet another goal moments after the second banked off the post and past the Pirate goalkeeper.

Trailing 3-0 already, it seemed as if the Pirates’ spirits had already sunk. Chaparral went on to add two more scores before the end of the half to lead 5-0 at intermission.

Moapa Valley would keep their opponent scoreless for the last fifteen minutes of the first period and into the beginning of the second half. But Chaparral broke through late in the second half to add two more goals. The Pirate team would eventually fall 7-0.

Head coach Randy Tobler spoke about the team’s first half. “We just weren’t going to the ball the whole game,” he said. “We weren’t aggressive enough and we were giving up field too easy.”

He also commented on the team’s defensive improvements in the second half. “I think there was improvement,” he said. “The one thing we changed this year was to not poke at balls. We want them to play the odds and make sure they’re always playing conservative defense. In the first half, we kind of backtracked a bit and weren’t focused on those fundamentals.”

The Pirate’s offensive woes Tobler attributed to injury problems focused on the team’s leading scorer Sebastean Gutierrez. Gutierrez has dealt with a leg injury that makes it difficult for him to shoot with his opposite foot.

Two days later, the Pirates traveled to Boulder City for a rivalry game against the competitive Eagles. Though early, this game came with many playoff implications.

The first half was evenly fought. Neither side could find itself with an upper hand, so the score would be 0-0 at the halftime break.
“We both knew the first team to score would win the game because it would just tear the other team apart,” said MVHS senior Evan Conger.

In the second half, it was the Eagles that struck first, and the Pirates subsequently fell apart as Conger had suggested. A trail of goals followed that led to a 6-1 victory for Boulder City only cushioned by a second half goal to keep the shutout away.
“We were not connecting passes the whole game,” Tobler said after the game. “We were seeing the field and looking for it, which is great, but the passes just weren’t accurate enough.”

Tobler also elaborated on the long term faults involved with this loss. “Losing to Boulder City takes the playoffs out of our hands,” he said. “We need some other teams to win or lose. But if we get three more wins; and I really think we can; we can slide in there for a fourth seed.”

Tobler added one more sign of hope in what his team can do going forward. “This team can play with anybody if we can just pull it together,” he said.

Tobler and the Pirates hope to do so starting this week with a big game against Virgin Valley.