Crusaders blank Trojans in boys’ season opener

Late in the first half of a 5-0 loss to Faith Lutheran on Tuesday, with the Pahrump Valley High School boys soccer team trailing 2-0, a routine direct kick became the subject of long discussions.

Normally when a direct kick is called, defending players get in front of the ball and start moving back the required 10 yards. But that didn’t happen before the kick was taken, and before anybody else knew what was happening, it was 3-0 Crusaders, leaving the Trojans and the scattered parents in the bleachers confused and angry.

“The referee had made it a point before the game to say if we were going to be standing in front of any balls he was going to give us a card,” Trojans coach Chris Roberts explained. “Out of respect for that, we held off, and they took a quick kick. The whole reason for standing in front of the ball, or at least backing up, is to protect against that. He made it an issue to do so.

“It’s the old adage you should always protect yourself, but that’s why you step in front of the ball and then move slowly back. And he said he was going to card us if we did that.”

Getting a card for ordinary behavior is bad enough, but then the same referee handed out a yellow card to Pahrump Valley after some on-field discussion of the unusual play.

“His opinion on what ‘dissent’ is,” Roberts said of the card. “It wasn’t foul language. He just had it.”

But the referees turned a blind eye — or ear, perhaps — during the second half when Faith Lutheran senior Angel Mange — who tallied 2 goals and 2 assists during the game — let out an objectionable word at the top of his lungs after not converting on a wild scramble along the goal line and winding up on the turf just to the right of the goal.

As far as play on the field, the game can be summed up by saying the Trojans had very few good scoring chances, while the Crusaders made the most of theirs, especially on the occasional Pahrump Valley mistake.

One such mistake came during the 12th minute, when the Trojans failed to clear the ball and gave a good opportunity to Mange, who scored from 20 yards out. Barely a minute later, a perfect entry pass to Preston Rincon-Mancilla was converted easily by the freshman, and 11 minutes of roughly even play suddenly seemed a distant memory.

“In the flow of the game, the other team sometimes puts it in real quick because you’re still focused on the (first) goal,” Roberts said. “And that’s what happened to us.”

Six minutes later came the direct kick that Roberts spent the first two minutes of halftime discussing with the official.

Mange made it 4-0 during the 54th minute, eluding two defenders and scoring at close range. Jeremy Gauthier, another senior, scored easily from point-blank range 6 minutes later against junior keeper Favian Romero, who had relieved Ulises Salazar less than a minute earlier.

“Overall I think the team did well for what I was asking from them,” Roberts said. “They talked a little better, but they can always talk more. They need to communicate more. They flowed a little better, their defense was a little more on point, so for the division we play in they will be a lot stronger.”

The boys soccer team has a problem every Pahrump Valley team has during this “fall” season. With Clark County public schools not playing sports, the Trojans are taking opponents where they can get them. That means schools such as Pahrump Valley, Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley will be playing Bishop Gorman and/or Faith Lutheran in just about everything, and those two schools’ teams play at the 4A/5A level.

“When we play some of the bigger teams it’s harder,’ Roberts said. “Their talent runs deeper because they have a lot of club players who play constantly. In the end it’s good experience. If we can defend against some of these better teams, when we play people from our own division we’ll be very solid.”

Roberts said the Trojans had a few breakdowns but also that he is still moving people around, seeing what works.

“There are a couple of areas, especially on defense, where they were trying something that they hadn’t,” he said. “But they played pretty well for the most part. I don’t think they’re five goals better than we are, but they were the better team today.”