Lady Eagles fall short in state tourney

While the ultimate goal of winning a state championship unfortunately fell short for Boulder City High School, the future looks brighter than ever for the Eagles.

Falling to eventual state champion Truckee, 7-0, on Nov. 6, head coach Kristin Shelton thinks the loss will have a positive outcome on the program’s future.

“I think it’s always good to play against teams that challenge you,” Shelton said. “Truckee was a great opponent and they undoubtedly have incredible skills on the field. They look like a team that has been playing together for a while. It is difficult when you play a team that would probably do well against the 5A teams. It definitely highlights the things we can do better as a team and things I should focus on more as a coach.”

A successful season regardless of the final outcome, Shelton sees the positives of this year’s returning group making the state tournament for the first time since 2021.

“I think the returning girls now have a taste of this great accomplishment and it will hopefully push them to want to continue to work hard and keep a state run going for years to come,” she said.

Poised to lead that run is sophomore Lila Stankovic, who led the Eagles in both goals (18) and assists (12).

Sporting a youth movement this past season, Stankovic should be among seven key returners who scored at least a point this past season.

Key standpoints from this past season included junior Sophia Elburn (five goals, three assists), sophomore Savanna Starley (eight goals, two assists), sophomore Kora Remedi (four goals, two assists) and freshman Susan Muir (five goals, two assists).

Defensively, the Eagles will need to replace several key playmakers, but do return sophomore Malley Jobin, who made 42 steals.

Looking to continue to grow the program into a perennial contender in the southern region, coach Shelton said she’s going to put more of a focus on individual player development moving forward.

“Soccer is difficult because in order to show team growth, we must want to grow as individual players first,” she said. “Each player has to put in the effort that will ultimately help the team succeed. I think moving forward, I would like to work on the individual goals of my players and help them recognize their full potential, which will inadvertently improve our team as a whole.”

The Eagles finished their season with an overall record of 11-4-4, reaching double-digit victories for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, after finishing last year 7-6-4.