Sports Roundup: Souza, Kullmann lift Pahrump Valley girls over Western

The road to the Sunset League girls soccer championship officially goes through Pahrump.

Pahrump Valley made sure of that Thursday, when the Trojans handed rival Western a 2-1 defeat in Las Vegas. The Trojans and Warriors again appear to be the top teams in the league, and the win means, barring a bizarre result along the way, the Warriors must defeat the Trojans when the teams meet Oct. 21 in Pahrump.

“We dominated the first half of the game,” a delighted Trojans coach Julie Carrington said.

Indeed, goals by Gabrielle Kullman and Maddy Souza gave Pahrump Valley (9-2-3, 3-0 Sunset) a 2-0 lead at halftime, but the Trojans hardly were home free.

“Western dominated the second half with clean passing and scored their goal about 10 minutes into the half,” Carrington said. That left almost 30 minutes for the Warriors to play for the equalizer, but the Pahrump Valley defense and freshman keeper Madison Lee, who made 12 saves, turned them away.

The result left Western (8-4-1, 2-1) tied with Valley (4-5-1, 2-1) in the Sunset. Pahrump Valley already has defeated Valley, 5-0 on Sept. 24 in Las Vegas.

Pahrump Valley 9, Equipo 0: For the second consecutive home game, the mercy rule halted a Trojans victory early as Kaylee Mendoza erupted for 5 goals in an easy victory over the Yeti on Monday in a Sunset League game.

Souza recorded a hat trick and an assist, while Makayla Gent assisted on four goals for Pahrump Valley (10-2-3, 4-0 Sunset), which stayed a game ahead of Western and Valley in the league standings. The Yeti fell to 0-5.

Boys Soccer

The final score was Equipo 4, Pahrump Valley 2 on Friday at Mike Morgan Family Park, but the score was the last thing on the mind of Trojans coach Chris Roberts after the final whistle.

“They hacked about four of our players,” said Roberts, visibly angry about what had transpired. “The referees had no control of the game whatsoever. Bad calls, both sides, not just our side, completely terrible not even adhering to the rules.”

The officials apparently were sensitive to the criticism from the sidelines, as one Pahrump Valley player’s relative was ejected from the game for his observations. But the frustration was only beginning, as the Trojans were ahead 1-0 at the time on a goal by Abraham Alvarez, who lofted a soft shot into the net while Equipo players were screaming for an offsides call during the 7th minute.

The Trojans made it 2-0 early in the second half, when Gonzalo Gonzalez hit a rocket off the far post which ricocheted back toward Christian Mott, who calmly drilled in the rebound. But it only took a minute for things to go south for the Trojans.

Barely a minute after the second goal, Equipo was awarded a penalty kick — a weak one, Roberts said. — and sophomore Fernando Alas connected to cut the lead in half. Alas scored again 7 minutes later when he worked his away around a defender and sent a left-footed shot into the Pahrump Valley net to tie the game.

The Yeti got a break a few minutes later when a shot rolled across the crossbar and dropped back into play for John Gandarilla, whose goal gave Equipo the lead for good at 3-2. The Pahrump Valley defense was caught off guard, thinking the ball would roll off toward the back for a goal kick instead of falling back on the field of play.

The outcome left Pahrump Valley in a tight four-team race for the final two playoff berths in the Sunset. The Trojans are 8-4, 5-4 in the league, behind Del Sol (5-3-1), tied with Valley and just ahead of Mojave (4-4). The Trojans and Rattlers will do battle in Pahrump Valley’s next game, Oct. 16 at Trojan Field.

But Roberts is already hoping his team will see the Yeti again in the postseason.

“We’ll be ready for them,” he said.

Golf

Breanne Nygaard again won medalist honors in a Sunset League match, shooting 4-over 76 Oct. 2 at Mountain Falls to best rival Carolyn Lemon of Western by 4 strokes.

Pahrump Valley was the only school in the team competition, but Nygaard bested 13 golfers from five schools and the other Trojans took fourth through eighth place, just behind Mojave’s Natalia Facio. Toni Cross-Smith (105), Shenie Monjaras (113), Anastassia Furman (114), Shania Hopkins (115) and Alyssa Holmes (124) competed for the Trojans.

The Trojans will be on familiar ground, as Mountain Falls is the host course for this year’s Class 3A Southern Region championship today and Thursday. Play is scheduled to begin each day at 10 a.m.

Cross country

Sixth-grader Julianna Ondrisko’s ninth-place finish in the girls race was the top performance for Rosemary Clarke Middle School at the Lake Mead Invitational on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City.

Ondrisko covered the 1.8-mile course in 12 minutes, 28.2 seconds for the Sharks. Seventh-graders Ryleigh Denton (23rd, 13:40.0) and Jordan Onigkeit (24th, 13:40.9) helped Rosemary Clarke finish fifth. Faith Lutheran won the girls title.

The Sharks boys team finished sixth in an 11-team field, led by a quartet of runners who placed in the top 30 of the 114-runner field.

Seventh-grader Owen Waldrop placed 24th in 11:57.2, followed closely by seventh-grader David Mendoza Cruz (26th, 12:07.8), seventh-grader Cullen Waldrop (28th, 12:12.2) and sixth-grader Benjamin DeSantiago (29th, 12:12.9).

Football

LJ Bechard scored touchdowns on runs of 8, 7 and 24 yards to pace Rosemary Clarke Middle School to a 41-12 victory over the Las Vegas Junior Raiders on Sept. 28 at Pahrump Valley High School.

Bechard finished with 150 yards rushing for the Sharks, while Brennen Benedict rushed for 56 yards.

Triston Church returned a fumble 8 yards for a Sharks touchdown, while Gunners Cortez scored on a 13-yard run and Hunter Mellinger rushed 4 yards for another score.

Cole Miler also recovered a fumble for the Sharks (1-4), who will be back at Trojan Field on Saturday to face the Las Vegas Red Eagles (3-2) at 3 p.m.