Pahrump Valley High School girls soccer

It wasn’t quite the evening that the Lady Trojans soccer program had envisioned last Thursday as they couldn’t escape the late pressure of Cimarron-Memorial High School.

Falling 6-1 in front of the supportive home fans in attendance, the Trojans, despite the final result, never gave up the long fight to the second-place 4A Southern Sky League program.

In the 30th minute of the first half, the Trojans nearly struck gold as a beautiful inbound pass from junior co-captain Natalie Soto to captain senior Natalia Vallin was met by a firm strike that just missed wide.

Before the half could blow to a whistle, the Spartans were able to sneak two goals past senior goalkeeper Julieanne Briggs in the 36th minute and once more following a long dribble that sophomore MF/FORW Lauren Raugust was able to finish by herself at 37:30.

As the second half crept to an end, it was an all-too-familiar scene for the Lady Trojans (1-6-2, 1-5-2 3A Southern League) as they found themselves chasing two goals with only forty minutes remaining.

Making a defensive adjustment, Trojans head coach Amy Carlson made the the switch to bring in junior goalkeeper Jazmyn Herrera for the remainder of the match.

Unfortunately, the Spartans proved themselves to be the greater challenge as they were able to take advantage of the Trojans’ defensive miscues, notching four goals in the second half alone.

Spartans junior Yuset Silva earned herself a haul as Silva was the difference in the match, putting four balls through the back of the net.

To credit their opponent, the Spartans (8-2-1, 5-1-1 4A Southern Sky League) have completely outscored the opposition this season by a whopping margin, 62-15.

It wasn’t a complete shutout as Vallin would get her lick back late in the second half, sending a nice shot from the middle of the box past Spartans junior goalkeeper Lilianna Orozco.

What’s Next

The girls will have a week of non-league play as they prepare to compete in the Mater Academy East Las Vegas tournament slated to run Thursday through Saturday at Mater Academy East.

On Thursday, the girls open the tournament against the struggling newly appointed 4A program, Mater Academy East Las Vegas (2-8-1, 2-5-1 4A Southern Desert League) at 3:45 p.m.

Friday, the team will re-match at 6:05 p.m. against Equipo Academy (11-1, 7-0 3A Southern League) where they fell earlier at home this year to the Yetis 5-1.

Wrapping up the three-day tournament Saturday, the Lady Trojans will face the one team they’ve been able to take down in Cristo Rey St. Viator (0-8, 0-8 3A Southern League) at 10:50 a.m.

The Lady Trojans are still in the playoff race as the fifth seed in the 3A Southern League conference with the top six teams advancing.

The NIAA Class 3A Southern League Quarterfinals is slated to begin play starting Oct. 27 at host sites.

Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.