Boulder City has gotten off to a rocky start as the boys soccer team dropped its opening contest to Adelson on Friday, followed by a home loss to Pahrump Valley on Tuesday, both by scores of 2-1.
The first game against Adelson seemed to be over early, as the Lions pounced quickly with two goals in the first half. Senior Monte Morris got the Eagles on the board in the second half, with an outside, left-foot kick from the corner of the field.
BCHS couldn’t muster up enough offense, however, as they fell short of completing the come-from-behind victory.
“The first game was little bit of a wake-up call,” said head coach Chad Smith. “We’ll have more of an opportunity to grow as the games go.”
The home-opener for the Eagles didn’t go over that much better, as the Trojans from Pahrump gave BCHS its second straight defeat.
There were two early goals again from the opposition, and Boulder City again was able to cut the deficit in half, this time from junior Hunter Dale.
“We went with a new formation for this game, which gave us a little more field depth,” Smith said. “We’re trying to transition away from holding on to the ball too long. Obviously these players (we have) are good, and they need to capitalize on how good they are.”
The formation transition Smith alluded to was changing his players’ placement on the field. Instead of the 4-4-2 scheme they used in the first game, Boulder City went with a 4-1-4-1 against Pahrump.
The latter scheme allows for players to move around the field more so that the Eagles are allowed to play the ball in defensive and offensive zones more effectively.
Outside of new formations and becoming a more selfless team, Smith said defensive is where the Eagles need to get better in order to succeed.
“We need to work on our (defensive) shape better,” Smith said. “We played the ball a little more to the inside in the second half, which I liked seeing.”
The second half was without question the best Boulder City looked defensively, and it’s momentum Smith as well as the team thinks they can carry over into their next contest.
Depth will be an issue regardless of how well the team looks, as the Eagles only list 12 players on its varsity squad.
When injuries do occur, or yellow or red cards start being waived (junior Ben Missel received a yellow in the game against Pahrump Valley), the team will no doubt be at a major disadvantage.
The hope is that Boulder City can combat that by how efficient and effective it is when performing on the field.
Upcoming Games
Although previously listed as a home game, the Eagles’ next match will be at 3 p.m. Friday at Rancho.
Contact Randy Faehnrich at BCRsports@gmail.com.