Boulder City girls soccer on winning streak

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 | 2:21 p.m.

The Boulder City High girls soccer team appeared to be headed toward a miserable season after their first two games.

The Eagles were defeated by a combined 12-1, including a humbling 7-1 loss to Pahrump Valley were they lacked aggression and struggled playing as a team, first-year coach Duncan Stark said.

Some three weeks later, however, the Eagles are a different team. So different, Stark feels his squad will have success in the postseason next month.

Boulder City has won its last four games, including scoring six second-half goals on Sept. 26 in a 9-2 victory against White Pine.

“They are starting to play together as a team and realizing this is a team sport,” Stark said. “I have some great players on this team, I really do. But they needed to learned to play as a team.”

Midfielder Melissa Stewart had three assists against White Pine and Brooke Woodhall had two goals. Stark said junior sweeper Miriam Hardy has been his most consistent player.

“She is steady as a rock,” the coach said. “She is controlling the game for us.”

Stark said part of the turnaround can be credited to his team becoming more familiar with his coaching style. Those first two defeats were within three weeks of his first practices and the team was still finding its identity.

“I knew that if the girls would battle that we would be OK,” he said. “I see them getting better each week.”

Boulder City’s boys team also beat White Pine on Sept. 26, receiving a pair of goals from Daniel Andrade in a 4-0 victory.

Girls golf competitive against 4A school

The Boulder City High girls golf team kept it close against 4A power Green Valley High on Sept. 29, losing 158-199 on Green Valley’s home course of the Legacy Golf Club in Henderson.

Indiana Mead and Brianna Morang each fired 49s for nine holes to lead the Eagles, while first-year player Dylan Scott added a 50.

Scott, who also plays on Boulder City’s softball team, is one of about four girls who have given the Eagles a boost this fall despite being newcomers to the sport, coach Regina Quintero said.

“They are helping us out by battling for the final two spots in our lineup,” Quintero said.

Boulder City also lost to 3A Southern League foe Virgin Valley on Sept. 24 in a league match at Las Vegas National.

But the Eagles continued to trim its deficit against the Bulldogs, only losing by four strokes — 398-402. They were 30 strokes behind Virgin Valley in early September during the first match of the season.

Bridget Ward led Boulder City with a 94 and Mead added a 99.

Junior verbally commits to UC Santa Barbara

Boulder City High junior Indiana Mead, one of the nation’s top teenage soccer players, gave a verbal commitment to UC Santa Barbara last week.

Mead, who is part of the U.S. under-17 national team, doesn’t play soccer for Boulder City because the fall season conflicts with her club schedule and the number of non-high school events allowed by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association during a season.

Mead was also part of Boulder City’s state champion girls golf team last fall and one its top performers this fall.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@lasvegassun.com.