Truckee senior Thomas Arnstein and the Wolverines defeated Fallon 6-1 on Tuesday.
FALLON — It was close for the first 42 minutes, then the power of Truckee was unleashed.
The Wolverines rode the legs of star Thomas Arnstein to rout the Fallon boys soccer team 6-1 on Tuesday at the Edward Arciniega Complex.
The game was moved from Truckee to Fallon due to unhealthy smoke conditions. Fallon will play at Truckee on Oct. 11.
“I think we played really well,” Truckee coach Casey Eberhardt said. “We came out and played our style, which is possession style. It’s always nice to get a couple early goals and it takes the pressure off our defense.”
Arnstein, meanwhile, was unstoppable as the senior tallied two goals and a pair of assists as the Wolverines improves to 5-0 in the Northern Division I-A and 7-2-2 overall. Fallon falls to 1-1 in league and 2-2-1 overall.
Truckee sprinted out of the gates netting a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes of the match. Zack Barta started the scoring with a run slicing through the Greenwave’s centerbacks and powered a shot past goalkeeper Miguel Ruiz.
One minute later, Arnstein drove to the endline and fed Jordan Fereira for the one-timer and a 2-0 lead.
Fallon, meanwhile, settled down and resisted Truckee’s barrage. The Wave’s best chance came off a free kick from Corbin Waite, whose shot short-hopped goalkeeper Gabriel Serna, but Serna was able to corral the ball.
“They (Truckee) were really skilled,” Fallon coach Nate Waite said. “When we were at our best, we got looks. Unfortunately, we weren’t at our best enough. To beat a team like Truckee, we have to play our best for several minutes at a time. Not just in flashes.
Fallon, though, finally broke through in the second half when Fidel Enriquez and Tristan Parrott hooked up for a goal. Enriquez wiggled past a pair of defenders down the left side, slid a pass by Serna and found Parrott, who blasted home the goal in the 42nd minute.
“I was happy, thinking it was anyone’s game,” Waite said.
But as soon as Fallon thought it was in the game, Arnstein came to Truckee’s rescue. He took a pass and bullied his way through the center of Fallon’s defense and buried a shot about 30 seconds after Fallon’s goal to give Truckee a 3-1 lead.
“We got a little too happy with a 2-0 lead,” Eberhardt said. “Fallon is one of those teams where you if you let them hang around, they will get goals. They are definitely one team you can’t let up on.”
Arnstein added another goal in the 58th minute, a powerful shot off his left boot, then fed Fereira for another goal in the 67th. Andres Garcia added the final goal off an assist from Nathan Ariza.
Parrott nearly added a second goal for Fallon, but his shot in the 60th minute sailed high and a header 15 minutes later floated over the crossbar.
Despite the big loss, Nate Waite was encouraged by the effort. The Wave faces South Tahoe on Saturday, and Waite said his club will regroup and work on being focused and intense for 80 minutes.
“You wonder if it’s a mental letdown when you have two goals scored on you that fast,” Waite said of the Truckee’s early scores. “They were really moving the ball well. It’s no fluke.”
As for Truckee, the Wolverines are rolling, but the smoke conditions present an unforeseen obstacle. Eberhardt said it will be a day-by-day decision whether to practice outside, and if the squad cannot, the focus will be on strength training. He said the team may even drive to Reno to practice if the conditions allow it.
The silver lining, though, is the Wolverines’ next four matches are on the road, although two of them are at Incline and rival Sparks.