Lady Trojans in a scoring slump

Lady Trojans soccer scoring has dried up and has the team searching for answers.

Pahrump (4-4 overall, 1-2 Sunset League) lost to Western (2-6 overall, 1-4) in an away game 3-1 on Monday.

The team split a two-game home stand last week, which ended with the team losing to Clark, 5-2. Going into the Clark game the team had 14 points in three games.

The girls had three home games scheduled, but only played two of them against Canyon Springs and Clark. Mojave was a no-show on Friday.

According to Trojans Athletic Director Ed Kirkwood, the team is making inquiries into whether or not the game was forfeited by the Mojave team.

On Wednesday, Clark (5-4, 1-2) came to town. The Chargers seemed to have more possessions, despite the score being tied at 2-2 at the half.

The defense finally was overrun in the second half and allowed three unanswered goals.

Trojans coach Pam Larmouth put the blame on the injury of Cierra Friesz, who is out with a broken ankle.

"We were all very disappointed in our loss to Clark," she said. "We are still struggling with our defensive lineup and will be adjusting as necessary to see if we can find the right mix."

Larmouth said Clark just got to the ball faster.

"Clark ran the entire game and beat us to the ball at least half of the time; that kind of possession usually signals a win," she said. "I saw many things in the game against Clark that were good and that will hold us in good stead if we can get our pace up to par and win those 50/50 balls."

The girls will hit the meat of the Sunset League starting next week against Spring Valley on Sept. 29 and it doesn't get any easier. Sierra Vista (2-2-2, 2-1) follows, and then Cheyenne (4-1, 3-0) and Faith Lutheran (7-5-1, 2-1). All those teams have a winning overall record.

Unless the Trojans want a repeat of last season, where the team finished in fifth place with an 8-6 record, they will have to find a way to beat some of these teams.

The girls have the weekend to recover and then are on the road Tuesday against Spring Valley (4-1, 3-0) at 3 p.m.

The Trojans boys soccer (3-4-1, 0-3) team lost to division leader Western (8-1 overall, 5-0) on Monday 6-0 and the third place team, Clark (5-3, 2-1) on Thursday. In the past week, the boys had to play the three top teams in the conference and lost to all three.

The schedule gets a bit easier as the Trojans play Adelson (6-3) on Thursday in Las Vegas and then Spring Valley (2-4, 2-1) at home on Tuesday at 3 p.m.