Pahrump Valley Trojans push Green Valley in 2-0 loss

In covering the Trojans varsity boys soccer team this fall, I’ve yet to see the program have as much fun during a match despite the final outcome last week at Green Valley High School.

As the scoreboard tells it, Pahrump Valley lost a 2-0 non league contest on the road, but for those that caught the game, we saw a completely different team rise to the challenge.

Playing with a newfound swagger amongst themselves in the last few matches, the Trojans have been tying or beating some of the best competition in their division in Moapa Valley, Virgin Valley and Boulder City.

Last Thursday night in the misty rain, the Trojans (3-5-4, 3-4-4 3A Southern League) came out with a chip on their shoulder as the smack talking from the Gators came early.

And with good reason as Green Valley has been able to back up the talk with an impressive 8-4-1 overall record where they currently sit in second place in the 4A Southern Desert League with a 7-2-1 record, behind SLAM!’s undefeated squad.

Holding the Gators scoreless in the first half, the Trojans were able to get a couple of shot-on-goal opportunities but were at the mercy of the Gators senior goalkeeper Diego Mendez.

Trojans junior midfielder TC Hone nearly left his mark on the night with a solo strike from the left side of the box in the 17th minute that sailed just right past the goal post.

Not a minute later, sophomore midfielder Roberto “Berto” Gonzalez was just as close with a strike from deep that sailed wide right out of bounds.

Mendez finished the match with 5 saves on the night and would not budge throughout the whole second half.

Running the triangle formation well, the Gators touch-and-go play style was a pace that most 3A programs haven’t been running as aggressively, but the Trojans responded with poise.

It took nearly 62 minutes of play to break the ice as the Gators junior Pedro Alves Rodrigues was able to sneak one past Trojans senior goalkeeper Cayden Cowley to put Green Valley up 1-0.

Green Valley got lucky a few minutes later after Cowley deflected multiple shots on goal before senior Liam Gilbert was able to punch the final nail in the coffin with a soft touch off Cowley’s deflection.

Without their head coach Andrew Norton, who was away on personal leave for the match, the Trojans had some fun of their own as “The Pink Panther” Cowley was able to leave his goalkeeper equipment on the bench and hit the field.

Having fun with the change of positioning in the last 8 minutes of the second half, the Trojans competitively got some last licks in before the final whistle blew.

Looking Ahead

With two home matches left in the fall regular season, the Trojans are set to take on Cimarron-Memorial in a non league match on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

On Oct. 20, the final home match of the year will be an event to bring your popcorn as the Trojans rematch against an Equipo Academy program that showed huge fight in their last away contest.

Sitting in 4th place overall in the 3A Southern League standings, the Trojans difference of 4th and 5th seeding comes down a tie that gives the Trojans a slight 0.455% over Cristo Rey St. Viator’s 0.450%.

Virgin Valley still tops the division with a 6-0-3 league record with Moapa Valley (7-1-2) and The Meadows (5-3-2) just behind.

The NIAA Class 3A Southern League Boys Soccer Playoffs are slated to begin League Quarterfinals play on Saturday, Oct. 25 with hosts sites and times to still be determined.

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