Faith Lutheran, Bishop Gorman ready to renew rivaly

When Faith Lutheran beat Bishop Gorman 2-0 in girls soccer early in the 2019 season, it was significant for two reasons.

The loss ended a 49-game unbeaten streak for the Gaels, a run that included two state championships, and signaled that the Crusaders were a significant threat to claim the crown.

Faith Lutheran went on to its own unbeaten season, compiling a 23-0-1 mark that culminated in a 1-0 win over Coronado in the state championship game and a No. 8 national ranking by USA Today.

Faith Lutheran and Gorman are two of the eight girls teams playing this spring in Southern Nevada. They’ll meet to open the six-week season Thursday at Faith Lutheran, with a return matchup at Gorman on March 23.

It will be anything but a normal season, with the teams playing fewer than 10 games apiece. But Faith Lutheran coach Bob Chinn said he thinks in a strange way it could be more beneficial to his team than a normal season.

“In a normal season, you don’t face the same adversities,” Chinn said. This season, he said, “you’re playing at a different time of the year, managing playing club and high school, all the COVID protocols, the weather’s different than we’re used to. It’s a great opportunity for coaches to teach that it’s not just a game. It’s what you learn from the game. I’m excited to see how the girls handle it.”

Faith Lutheran showed it can handle adversity last year when it played the regional final without several of its top players, who were at a club tournament.

Facing a Centennial team that gave them their only blemish on their record, a scoreless tie in the regular season, the Crusaders won 2-0 on their way to the state title.

Chinn knows having won that crown puts a target on Faith Lutheran’s back. Nobody is gunning for the Crusaders more than Gorman.

The Gaels dominated the rivalry with Faith Lutheran before last season, or as Gorman coach Doug Borgel said, “It was hammer and nail, with us being the hammer.” After an injury-filled 2019, Borgel hopes his team will return this spring to the form that made it a two-time state champion and carry that into the fall.

“We’re the last two state champs, and it’s a big deal to us,” Borgel said of facing Faith Lutheran. “There are a lot of players from both teams that play together and against each other in club, and the coaching staffs know each other well. They got one title, and we’d like to stop it there.”

While Faith Lutheran and Gorman are the headliners, Chinn said it would be a mistake to sell Class 3A programs Pahrump Valley and Virgin Valley short. Both, Chinn said, are talented teams.

‘I’m hoping to keep my team in shape for the next season,” Pahrump Valley coach Julie Carrington said. “It’s a good chance to play teams we wouldn’t normally play. We will have a fun year. We are thankful we are playing.”

All three coaches agreed wins and losses aren’t the most important thing this spring. It’s about sending the seniors out with one last chance to suit up for their respective schools.

“That’s the biggest thing. We want to give the seniors a chance to play and have a proper sendoff,” Borgel said. “We always treat senior day as a big deal, especially for those who have come through our program and played four years. We’ll make sure to do that for these seniors.”

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.