Trojans boys soccer falls hard to Western

The Western Warriors were just too much for the Pahrump Valley boys soccer team on Monday evening as the Trojans fell at home 8-0.

The game was called due to the mercy rule late in the second half with 9:14 remaining in the game.

The Warriors (7-0-2 overall, 2-0 Sunset League) showed the Trojans (1-8-1, 0-2) why they were the runner-up at state last year and why they have been Sunset League champs for the past four years as they scored frequently and at will with near-perfect passing and ball handling. They kept the ball on the Trojans side of the field the entire game.

The first score came with 27 minutes to go in the first half as Juan Alvarez passed to Juan Estrada, who kicked it into the net. Estrada scored two more times in the first half. Alvarez and Henry Ceballos scored the other two goals in the first half to make the score 5-0 at the half.

Pahrump Valley couldn’t find any answers to the Warriors scoring during their break as Western scored three more goals to end the game. The goals were scored by Elizandro Zaragoza, Bryan Jimenez and Andy Rodriquez.

In his fifth year at Western and second year as head coach, Kory Pippin demands a lot from his team.

“We push hard work everywhere,” he said. “The NIAA rule is 2.0, but if grades drop on our team we start pushing them. I try to make it like college ball. And so when they get a chance to go they know what it’s like. As a team we want a state championship, but as coach, I want kids going to college and moving on.”

Western wants that state title

“We have never won state in soccer, but last year we went to the state finals and lost to Sparks,” Pippin said. “Every year we tend to have a good group. This year we are young and it seems that things are super promising. I just have a different spirit about this team. Every year we seem to have a good group that can compete with anybody. It’s September and I feel really good about this team.”

Pippin said his team is young but still has experience.

“This is the youngest team we ever had,” the coach said. “We have more sophomores than anything else. We are starting only two seniors. A lot of these players play club ball. We have kids who are just working hard and are aspiring not to just be good high school soccer players but want to graduate from high school and go to college. As a team, our goal is to win state. Anything less than that would be a letdown. As soon as we started this year we knew we could beat anyone.”

The Trojans host Boulder City at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday for their next home game.

Trojans girls soccer (7-2-2, 1-0-1) battled Western (2-2-2, 1-0-1) to a 1-1 tie in league play on Monday on the road.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com