Lady Trojans secure No. 1 seed with win over Durango
The Pahrump Valley girls soccer team captured their third consecutive league title with a 7-0 victory over the Durango Trailblazers on Monday night.
Before the game, head coach Julie Carrington and the rest of the coaching staff, along with the fans and Pahrump Valley high school, celebrated the seniors on the team.
The Trojans came into the game needing at least a draw to clinch their league and get one of the top spots in next week’s 3A southern regional tournament.
A draw wasn’t enough, they wanted to leave no doubts.
Pahrump Valley got off to a slow start with a little bit of sloppy play in the midfield. They were able to settle things down and get their passes going following the opening goal in the seventh minute by senior captain Adryanna Avena.
“To get all of my seniors in the game…it just changes up my positions which kind of made the passing and the pace of the passing not as what I wanted it to be,” Carrington said. “But, they played as a team. There was no negativity, it wasn’t anything ugly. It was just, ‘let’s get this done and do it together.’”
Avena would add three more goals over the course of the next ten minutes to give the Trojans a 4-0 lead before the 20 minute mark of the first half.
This was the ninth game of the season where Avena scored at least three goals. She now has 46 goals on the year and is on pace to finish as the top goal scorer and point scorer in the 3A division for Nevada.
With her second half assist on Monday night, Avena also topped the 100-point mark for the first time in her career.
Junior forward Courtney VanHouse and senior midfielder Kailani Martinez each added goals for the Trojans offense.
VanHouse finished with two goals and an assist, while Martinez finished with one goal and one assist.
Avena, VanHouse and Martinez combine for 92 of the 117 goals scored by Pahrump Valley this season.
The Lady Trojans will have one more regular season game this Wednesday, Oct 26, when they travel to Equipo Academy to take on the Yeti beginning at 4 p.m.
Equipo has already locked up the No. 2 seed for the Mountain league and currently sit two games behind Pahrump Valley.
The first time these two teams played each other, the Trojans came out victorious by a score of 6-0.
When asked about her comfort level with where the team is currently and the playoffs just a week away, Carrington mentioned that she is a little nervous with injuries hitting the team.
She also added that the newer players are stepping up and being contributors, and the team as a whole is doing well.
The Trojans should be getting senior midfielder Mia Carlson back just in time for the playoffs as she’s been dealing with an injury since mid-September.
The 3A southern regional tournament will kick off Monday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. All games for the tournament will be played at Bettye Wilson Park in Las Vegas.
Contact sports writer/editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com. Follow @the_dannysmyth on Twitter.
