Teams look to return to postseason play

Two years removed from the state tournament, Boulder City High School girls soccer is optimistic about returning this season.

Despite opening up their season on Aug. 21 with a 4-1 loss to rival Virgin Valley, who made the state tournament last season, head coach Arnold Oeland knows his team will be all right once they get to full strength.

“We started the season very lean and weren’t able to get subs,” Oeland said. “We were missing a few players that will help us out this season. Virgin Valley is a good team, very aggressive opponent. Hopefully we’ll be at full strength very soon.”

Highlighting the game for the Eagles, senior Natasha Oeland scored the first goal of the game, hitting from 40 yards out.

Returning after a junior campaign where she scored 20 goals with 23 assists, Oeland will be paired with junior Makayla Nelson, who scored 40 goals last season with 14 assists to pair in one of the most lethal duos in the 3A classification.

“Natasha brings a lot of versatility to the game,” Oeland said. “She’s been training all offseason; we expect her to be at the top of her game. Makayla has also gotten faster coming into the season. She really has a knack for scoring the ball. We should be very lethal on offense this season.”

Senior captain Indy Ruth (three goals, two assists) also returns this season, while sophomores Peyton Arboreen and Sancha Jenas-Keogh are newcomers to watch in the field, along with freshman goalie Reese Pusko.

“This year we have a really good team,” Oeland said. “We have really dynamic players spread out across the field. We have a lot of optimism with this year’s team.”

Flooded with optimism as well, boys soccer will look to make a return trip to the postseason following a season opening 2-2 tie with rival Moapa Valley on Aug. 22.

Junior Robert Crowl scored a goal for the Eagles, while setting up junior Ben Porter for his goal.

The duo will be joined by seniors Zachary Strachan and Antonio Costa and sophomores Ayden Villa and Carson Smith under first-year head coach Amanda Carducci.

In the net for the boys will be senior goalie Carter Lawson.

“The goal this season is to watch these players grow,” Carducci said. “My hope is that each player becomes the best overall player they can be.”

Looking for their first win of the season, the girls will travel to Chaparral on Monday.

Looking to keep the momentum going, the boys will travel to Del Sol today, followed by an away game at Sloan Canyon Tuesday.