Fall Sports Roundup: September 29, 2021

MVHS Girls Soccer
By VERNON ROBISON
The Lady Pirates had three matches on the schedule last week and they came out victorious in all three. The team ended the week with a 7-2 record.

On Monday, Sept. 20, the Pirates travelled to Del Sol High School in Las Vegas and shut out the Dragons 4-0. Freshman Abbie Hammons scored 2 of the day’s goals. Brooke Sherwood and Talli Fairchild, both juniors, got one each to round out the scoring. Pirate senior Anna Claussen got an assist in the game.

On Wednesday, the Moapa team hosted Durango High School and beat the Trailblazers 6-1. The scoring was spread out across the team in the game. Hammons and Fiarchild each scored two. Lexy Fullman, a junior, and Allison Mills, a sophomore, each scored one goal in the match.

Assists were made by Fairchild, sophomore Haylie Western, and freshman Mallory Tobler. Tobler actually got two assists. One of those was in the second half when Tobler had the opportunity to make a corner kick. The ball flew to the front of the Durango goal and was headed into the net by Fairchild.

The team’s third game took place on Friday at Equipo Academy in Las Vegas where the Pirates routed the Yeti, 4-0. Scoring one goal each were freshman Abbie Hammons, junior Paige Fairchild, Tobler and Sherwood.

“They are coming together and getting to be consistent in their play,” said MVHS head coach Lisa Cornwall of her team. “And we have great players across the spectrum. Our upperclass players asre doing great. But we brought up a number of freshman to the varsity team and they are doing fantastic as well.”
On Wednesday, the Pirate JV team also met with Durango and won the match 3-2.

VVHS Boys Soccer
By LOU MARTIN
The Virgin Valley High School Boys Soccer team ran into a buzz saw on Thursday afternoon, Sept. 25, in the Dawg House. Charter school Equipo Academy of Las Vegas continued their onslaught on 3A schools with a Convincing 7-0 win over the host Bulldogs. Equipo leads the 3A Mountain League with a 3-0 record and a 6-3-1 over 4A competition. Equipo dismantled Moapa last week 9-0 in their march through the valleys.

The Bulldogs stayed with the visitors for the first 11 minutes of the match before Equipo’s pressing style overwhelmed the Dawgs defensive side with four straight goals before the period was over.
Bulldog goalkeeper Daniel Isidro held his own despite giving up 7 goals in the match. Isidro saved 12 other Equipo shots on goal with determination and grit.

The Dawgs could not match the smooth play both on offense and defense as their guests had Virgin Valley’s defense turned around most of the match with their unselfish passing and control of the ball. Jonathon De La Sancha led the Equipo team with a goal and three assists followed by Diego Rubio with three big goals.

“It’s tough when you face a team that plays club ball all year long,” said Bulldog coach Jose Galindo. “I’m still proud of our boys who work hard at improving their game. Equipo has 24 solid players and it shows.”
The Bulldogs will host Pahrump Valley on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

MVHS Cross Country
By IAIN MCMURRAY
It was a good day for the Moapa Valley High School Cross Country teams as they ran again at the Falcon Invitational at Foothill High School. The Pirates placed third in both the Varsity A and B Boys race, but didn’t have a full team for the Varsity Girls race.

The 5K course consisted of a small loop followed by two larger loops around the school, with a variety of different terrain to keep runners on their toes. The course, known for being one of the fastest in the region, allowed many Pirate runners to set season and all-time personal records.

Pirate runners Cyrus Katich took sixth place with a time of 16:41 in the race. Marcus Shambaugh, took ninth at 16:41.
The first place team was Centennial, followed by Bishop Gorman in second place and Moapa Valley in third.

In the Varsity Girls race, Pirate runner Emma Humes took fifth with a time of 19:10.
Next was the Varsity B Boys race where the Pirate team took 3rd place. This race was led by Pirate runner Kayden Dixon who came in 1st with a time of 18:30.

“What a great day to be a part of Pirate Cross Country!” said MVHS coach Heather Humes. “These kids have been working so hard and for all of that work to come together on a day like this where almost everyone hits a new personal record is awesome!”

The Pirate Cross Country team is scheduled to compete again at the Lake Mead Pre-Regionals on Saturday, October 9.

VVHS Tennis
By LOU MARTIN
The Virgin Valley High School tennis team garnered a 12-0 win over Western High School Monday afternoon in the Dawg Pound. The Warriors were not able to put enough players on the court which led to a forfeit. Matches were played to allow individual players to qualify for seeding placements in the regional tournament. Bulldog Brynn Andrus won her match to continue a good run into next month’s tournament.

Bulldog doubles team consisting of Angel Garcia and Andrew Cox won easily 6-3 over their Western opponent. Bulldog singles player Connor Wilson lost his match 1-6 plus the doubles team of Lincoln Toone and James Park fell to their Warrior opponent 3-6. Everyone else struggled with their matches.

“It was a great learning experience for the kids,” said Bulldog coach Gavin Barnard. “It gives us a lot of things to practice and hopefully improve on. We are still excited about our future matches” The Bulldogs will continue their matches on the road the next two weeks before returning on the 30th to host Adelson High School.

MVHS Tennis
By NICK YAMASHITA
The Pirates secured victories for both Boys and Girls Tennis teams last week. They went up against Sunrise Mountain on Monday, Sept. 20 and then played Canyon Springs on Thursday.

The Sunrise Mountain boys team only had one player so it was a forfeit to Moapa Valley, 12-0. But John Lyman, Aiden Leavitt, and Brock Aikele travelled and each played a set against the one male SMHS athlete. All three won their sets 6-0.
The Girls team also won by forfeit as the Sunrise Mountain didn’t have enough players.

On Thursday, both Pirate teams took on Canyon Springs at MVHS. The boys won 18-0 and the girls won 15-3.
On the girls side, Savvy Aikele and Shaylee Adams were both 2-0 in their matches. For the boys, Garrett Hadley, Nick Hoy, Aidan Johnson, Braden Leavitt, & Cole Neilson all won their matches 2 sets to 0.

“Our players stayed focused and beat the team that they should beat,” said MVHS Assistant Coach Robbin Ozaki. “But we need to keep working hard on becoming better tennis players so we can compete with the better teams in our division.”

Ozaki noted the many forfeits that the Pirates had won this year. “Unfortunately, there seems to be no incentive or reward for teenagers to play high school tennis,” he said. “Kids are not as active today, either.”
On the September 30, the Pirates take on Cheyenne in Las Vegas.