Preps: Southern finale pits haves vs. haven’t-yets

Steve Cunningham

Thursday, Nov. 6, 1997 | 10:09 a.m.

Green Valley has plowed through its boys' soccer season without losing, earning national recognition in the process.

Cheyenne, on the other hand, is in new territory, trying to turn the first postseason in school history into a memorable one.

Those two schools meet at 6 p.m. today at UNLV's Peter Johann Field for the 4A Southern Conference championship. It's not a life-or-death encounter -- both teams have qualified for next week's state tournament in Carson City -- so each can relax and do their things.

"That's what's best about the game," Green Valley coach Vince Hart said. "We can both let it all hang out."

The Gators have moved up to No. 7 in the national rankings and will be facing a team hungry for recognition. Cheyenne isn't happy with just reaching the state tournament, coach Rick Kazee said. The Desert Shields want much, much more.

"We've got a whole lot of zone championship flags hanging in our gym," he said, "and none of them say soccer. We're not satisfied just to be where we're at and I imagine it's the same for Green Valley."

Cheyenne and Green Valley didn't meet during the regular season and the Desert Shields will be seeing the Gators' helter-skelter style for the first time. And to complicate matters a bit, several Cheyenne players are nursing minor injuries.

Kazee thinks the game will be the perfect remedy for the aches and pains.

"We're pretty banged up. We've have to get those kids to suck it up," he said. "We're the walking wounded but we're excited. We're going over there to win the game."

Hart thought his Gators finished off the regular season well but has been less-than-pleased with their execution in wins over Bonanza and Bishop Gorman in the postseason. Hart downplays any notion that Green Valley is feeling the pressure of such high expectations.

"Actually, we kind of laugh about this national-ranking thing," he said. "It's all based on record. Cheyenne may have a better team. Who knows? We'll find out (Thursday).

"We're not satisfied with the way we've played in the playoffs. We haven't taken advantage of mistakes. If we give Cheyenne time to play, we're the ones who will be back on our heels."