The Battle Mountain High School girls soccer team returned from Ely tired, after five matches, with a 2– 2–1 record and a tie for third place in the Jason Nelson memorial tournament at White Pine High School.
The Lady Longhorns started the weekend much stronger, playing with a full team, after last weekend when the played two matches with 10 and nine players the Spring Creek Jamboree.
Friday’s round-robin play began at on the turf at White Pine High School, as Battle Mountain lost to Spring Creek 1-0.
Junior goalie Mandy Lofthouse, playing behind a strong defense, made 20 saves for the Lady Longhorns.
The defense was anchored by senior Lily Chavez and junior Angelica Pasadas. Head coach David Marz noted they effectively communicated and intercepted the opponents offense with two freshman Charleen Gusky and Anyeli Guizar-Gonzalez, and sophomore Gio Ortiz playing in strong support. The defense was supported by midfielder sophomore Jackie La Riva, freshman Zarina Ceja and juniors Addie Ortiz and Maria Piedra pushing the ball forward to the strikers.
Senior captain Sruti Bhakta and Alexis Andrade played well in the 4-2 win over West Wendover. Bhakta scored four goals and made 18 saves.
The 1-1 day put the Lady Longhorns in second place in pod B pool play, leading to a 9 a.m. match Saturday against Pershing County where the defensive line made the stops with Lofthouse making 20 saves, as the Lady Longhorns shut out the Lady Mustangs 4-0,.
Bhakta scored four goals with Andrade pushing the ball to the senior for three assists. The win over Pershing County put the Lady Longhorns into the winners bracket where they squared off against the host Lady Cats of White Pine, two hours later.
The Lady Longhorns had plenty to prove after a mercy-rule shorten game the weekend before at the Spring Creek tournament where they played with just nine players.
The Battle Mountain defense led by Chavez, midfielder La Riva and sophomore Gio Ortiz limited the Lady Cats offense, coming off the field at the half with only two goals scored against them as, the Battle Mountain defense challenged and stopped the White Pine offense in the first half.
The second half started with the Lady Longhorns scoring early, as Bhakta found the back of the net on a breakaway goal.
White Pine countered with another goal five minutes later, as the Lady Cats found the upper corner of the net. However, the Lady Longhorns put junior striker Alexis Andrade into the scorebook as she, too, found the back of the net moments later.
However, it wasn’t enough as White Pine scored two more times to win 5-3. Lofthouse made 22 saves and the defensive freshman of Ceja, Gusky, and Guizar-Gonzalez made numerous stops against a strong White Pine offense. The Lady Longhorns then had another two-hour break, as they faced the third opponent of the day, the Elko JV.
Both teams, tired after two the two earlier matches of the day, played a defensive battle. Bhakta, Andrade, and Chavez made numerous runs but just couldn’t finish with a goal.
Elko scored off an early corner kick. However, Bhakta took 12 shots and scored once, while Lofthouse made 12 saves in the 1-1 tie, which was good for a third-place tie between the two soccer clubs in the tournament.
The Lady Longhorns begin league play on Friday against Yerington at noon and Fernley on Saturday at 11 a.m.
