I-A SOCCER: Crusaders continue to make strides, rip Bulldogs

Faith Lutheran girls soccer coach Steve Morrill describes his team’s season as up-and-down, waiting to see when the Crusaders will start coming together as a unit.

Morrill says his girls have played much better during the last month, and on Monday, Faith Lutheran continued to make strides.

The Crusaders pounded Virgin Valley, 7-0, in the quarterfinals of the Division I-A Southern Region Tournament at Faith Lutheran.

Faith Lutheran (15-4-1) will meet Tech (15-3-1) in a region semifinal at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Heritage Park.

From the beginning, the Crusaders put constant pressure on the Bulldogs (9-7-5), getting three goals in the first 19 minutes.

“We wanted to be more aggressive today,” said Morrill. “We wanted to get every ball out of the air and put pressure on them. I think this team is playing much better, and that’s what you want this late in the season.”

Dani Tharaldson led the way for Faith Lutheran with four goals.

Kristi Chinn added a pair of goals for the Crusaders, and Kendall Pori had the other goal. Emily Neighbors and Morgan Bracey eacg had two assists.

Tech 1, Clark 0 — Alex Guzman’s blast from 22 yards out was the difference as the Roadrunners edged the Chargers.

Guzman took a nice pass from Adrianna Guzman, and ripped the shot into the back of the net in the 38th minute. Clark (6-7) finally wore down, having to play the final 17 minutes with only 10 players.

Cheyenne 1, Desert Pines 0 — Girly Tambeagbor’s goal in the 24th minute was enough as the Desert Shields eliminated the Jaguars (9-6-1).

Tambeagbor put in a rebound after Amairani Gomez fired a shot off the Desert Pines goalie. Arika Carey stopped all four Desert Pines shots to earn the shutout.

Pahrump Valley 15, Moapa Valley 0 — Sydney Sladek had nine goals as the Trojans made easy work of the Pirates.

Sladek had three goals in the first 12 minutes of the match, and the defending state champion Trojans (15-0-2) never looked back. Pahrump will face Cheyenne (14-3) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Heritage Park.

Gabriella Vasquez added two goals for the Trojans, and Brittany Klenzcar, Courtney Lindsey, Jennifer McCaw and Amy Estrella each had one goal.