The Pahrump Valley girls soccer team began their quest to repeat as Nevada 3A state champions on Monday afternoon at Bettye Wilson soccer complex with a 9-0 victory over the Cheyenne Desert Shields in the first round of the southern regional playoffs.
The Lady Trojans finished with an undefeated league record for the third consecutive full season, going 10-0-1 in league play and 18-1-2 overall.
With Monday’s win over Cheyenne, Pahrump swept the season series between the two games. The Trojans won the first matchup in August by a score of 8-0.
Pahrump Valley picked up right where they had left off.
The Trojans were a little slow getting started, something that Carrington attributed to getting to know the fields.
“We started off on this field rough,” Carrington said. “It just seemed really slow in my mind, and I don’t know if it was because I was so anxious because it was so exciting or if it was really that slow. Once we got through the first 10 to 15 minutes, then I felt they were focusing on their jobs and who was where.”
However, when it rains it pours for the Pahrump Valley scoring.
The Trojans were held scoreless for the first 13 minutes of the game, but they would go on to score six goals over the final 28 minutes of the first half.
Senior captain Adryanna Avena got the scoring started with her first of what would be three goals in the game.
All three of her goals came in the first half against the Desert Shields. This was her 10th game of the season scoring at least three goals.
The goal of the day came from star defender Paris Coleman in the first half.
She received a pass from midfielder Kailani Martinez and was able to chip a shot over Cheyenne’s goalkeeper from about 25 yards away from the goal.
This was just the second goal of the season for Coleman, who is more known for her tenacious defense than for her scoring ability – although it is there when she chooses to use it.
The Trojans took a 6-0 lead into halftime after junior forward Courtney VanHouse received a pass from Leah Mennealy inside the 18-yard box and drilled a shot into the net.
Pahrump Valley would add three more goals in the second half, getting their seventh win of the season via the mercy rule.
Martinez, Hannah Hemphill and Khylarann Park added goals for the Trojans on Monday.
With the shutout against Cheyenne, junior goalkeeper Avery Moore got her 17th cleansheet of the season.
By getting a win against Cheyenne, Pahrump Valley advanced to the 3A southern regional semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
While I was interviewing Carrington after the game, we were both observing the match between Moapa Valley and SLAM Nevada, the winner would have to face Pahrump.
“Moapa is a really aggressive team and I’m more ‘let’s play the game and be aggressive’,” said Carrington. “So, if I had to choose, I wouldn’t mind playing SLAM just based on I always worry about injuries. The more soccer-headed team I would rather play is SLAM.”
She would get her wish. SLAM came away with a 3-1 victory, setting up the third game between the two teams this season.
SLAM gave Pahrump Valley one of their two draws this season, however, the Trojans won the second game against the Bulls by a score of 5-0.
The winner of the game will not only secure their spot in Saturday’s regional championship game, but they’re also guaranteed a spot in the state championship tournament next weekend no matter what the outcome is for Saturday’s game.
Game time is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at Bettye Wilson soccer complex.
Contact sports writer/editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com. Follow @the_dannysmyth on Twitter.