Fallon's Cesar Molina, right, battles with Truckee's Toni Oregal for control in the home game for the Wave on Friday.
The youngest team in the Greenwave’s 2016 bracket has its work cut out as the Wave boys soccer squad sits 0-2 in Division 3A after a 8-0 home loss to Truckee on Friday and a 6-0 loss at Lowry on Saturday.
With its next chance for a win is on the road Friday against North Tahoe at 5 p.m., Fallon coach Miguel Orduna wouldn’t consider the losses as rough as they looked.
“Yes, the score reflect a loss, but to me the kids are playing well considering we’re very young and we have some kids who are trying to learn how to be organized,” Orduna said. “I was happy with the way they played, Truckee’s just a very athletic team. When you put them up against a team like us they look very well, but on the other hand we played as best as we could and we played hard.”
Truckee’s Hugo Gutierrez began the onslaught of goals on an open net, followed by the Wolverines’ Jose Gonzalez who lifted the early lead 2-0 against a smaller, arguably more timid Fallon defense. Gonzalez ran clean through three Wave defenders for one more goal to end the half 3-0. Gutierrez also scored again at the beginning of the second half against a scattered Fallon midfield, followed by one final goal for Gonzalez and two goals by Truckee’s Max Krengel and Jason Prieto to end the game.
The Wave’s main sources of aggression were third-year veteran forward Luis Orozco and freshman Cesar Molina, who fought Truckee’s fastest defenders to the left corner throughout the first half, though, were unable to penetrate for a clear kick.
“Luis is battling some knee injuries form previous years, but he’s playing very smart,” Ordunas said. “He’s playing very reserved which is frustrating for him since he could be a lethal weapon for us but he’s becoming very disciplined knowing what his body needs. He’s not injured by he knows his limitations.”
Orozco, along with fellow captains Nick Kulik and Chase Sanchez, has been instrumental in getting the younger players to understand the game, Orduna said, with Molina being one of the freshmen to really pick it up early.
“Cesar, he’s a freshman, and I’m very excited for him to be here,” Orduna said. “He’s learning a lot and puts a lot of work in. We have a lot more work to do with him and the whole team but with his leg power and him learning how to play organized we’re going to be different. It’s going to be a good learning experience this season for all of us. It’s a good young group, and I’m looking forward to it.”
North Tahoe is a familiar foe among the 3A teams Fallon faces this year with Incline being the only exception, though, Orduna was clear every team the Wave faces this year is going to be a battle since the teams which provided a respite are no longer a factor.
“The main thing is we’re just young,” he said. “A lot of our kids are just inexperienced with the speed, the aggressiveness. We’re leaning. Our philosophy, our objective is just to get better as a team and to start building a tradition of how we want to play, just build up our team to where we want it in the year to come.”