4A GIRLS: Courvoisier helps Crusaders into state semifinals

It was a good birthday for Faith Lutheran senior Maddy Courvoisier.

And it wasn’t too bad for her Crusader teammates either.

Courvoisier had a hand in all three goals as host Faith Lutheran downed Pahrump Valley, 3-0 in a Class 4A state play-in match. The Crusaders (17-1-1) advance to the state semifinals on Nov. 13 in Reno.

Courvoisier netted a down-the-middle shot late in the first half, and tallied assists on either side of her goal, to send the Crusaders into next week’s 4A state tournament in Reno.

“I was really excited to come out and play,” Courvoisier said. “And I figure if you can’t get it yourself, you need to help your team get it. It was a good team effort.”

Senior Carson McBeath dished the ball to Courvoisier in the 38th minute, and the senior midfielder sprinted past the Pahrump backline and blasted a shot into the upper left corner of the net to give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Faith Lutheran had already defeated the Trojans twice during the regular season, but both teams were deadlocked in the first 20 minutes.

“I think we had a lot of butterflies and such,” Faith Lutheran coach Dave Elliot said. “Even though the girls have played Pahrump so much, we’ve had our share of wins, but it’s still a playoff atmosphere. You’ve got a lot of friends watching who don’t ever come out to games. And they know that if you lose, you go home; you win, you go to Reno.”

But in the 22nd minute, Courvoisier notched her first assist of the night, dishing the ball to junior Krystal Onyema for a run down the right sideline and past the Pahrump defense for a shot that found the upper left corner of the net.

The Crusaders continued to apply pressure in the second half, notching seven shots  — including four on goal — on the Trojans’ side of the field. But Pahrump’s defense managed six saves. The crossbar added another, preventing a potential score.

Until the 75th minute. That’s when Courvoisier crossed the ball to Shaunna Lee, who bent it just out of the reach of the Trojan keeper and into the back of the net.

Faith Lutheran keeper Kelly Zufall made three saves to earn the shutout.

“We were all really focused on coming and getting this game done,” Courvoisier said. “We focused on just playing Pahrump and beating them. But now that this game’s out of the way, we have a chance to go and focus on next week. Now we just have to go north and play the best we can.”