Wildcats keep no-loss record intact against Chaparral

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 | 11:07 p.m.

The Las Vegas High School boys’ soccer team is ready for the spotlight.

Playing in the shadow of its perennial powerhouse football team for decades, the boys’ soccer team has reason to believe this could be their year for school-wide recognition.

After cruising to a 2-0 victory over Chaparral Tuesday, the Wildcats moved atop the Northeast Conference standings with an impressive 8-0-2 record midway through the season.

Despite their recent success, the team realizes why its pigskin counterpart may steal its thunder –- the football team has won 16 state championships, including titles in 2005 and 2006.

The soccer team never has won a title. Ever.

“Of course that pushes us. There’s a friendly rivalry between the kids about that,” said Wildcats coach Vince Hart. “I tell the kids I’ve been coaching for 30 years, I’ve been a part of state titles at other schools and it would just be huge if they could bring one to this school in this sport, because it’s time.”

The Wildcats have been close, too. They were dropped in the regional semifinals last season and the state semifinals the year before.

But this year the Wildcats have one of the most potent weapons any team can possess: speed.

From its defense to the strikers, Las Vegas can flat out run.

“Tempo has been a focus lately,” Hart said. “We try to get out on the break and we have the players to do that.”

Offensively, the Wildcats focus on lateral attacks, rather than working the ball through the middle of the field like most other teams.

“We need to keep it wide, especially when we’re playing on a narrow field,” said senior midfielder Jaime Toscano. “Get our wings spread out and push the ball there. Instead of us doing the running, you get the other team to run after the ball and wear them out.

That style of play allows the Wildcats to conserve energy, because Hart doesn't believe in substitutions.

To insure that his starts can last an entire 80-minute game, Hart has his players run a 5K together once a week.

“They like doing that and they know that makes a big difference in how we play,” Hart said.

Yet despite making speed and stamina a priority this season, Las Vegas continues to stress toughness.

That physicality was apparent Tuesday in the Wildcat’s dismantling of the Cowboys as three different Las Vegas players drew yellow cards.

“Every time we’d beat them we’d get fouled,” said Chaparral coach Gerald Kearney. “They’re very good in the air, just strong, physical players.”

Along with the gritty similarities to its powerhouse football team, the Wildcats soccer team knows the feeling of falling short of its goals. Every single player has tasted defeat at least once on a big stage.

“We’ve known for the last three years that we’ve had a chance to win state, and it just hasn’t happened,” said Toscano. “And this is another year that we can take it, and go all the way to state and we don’t want anything to mess it up. We want to win this year for us, for Vegas, because they’ve never won it before.”