Bryan Ugalde spars with Elko's player Saturday morning.
The Greenwave boys soccer team played Spring Creek and Elko at home last week, and while both matches were losses the team saw improvement.
For Friday’s match against Spring Creek both teams fought cold temperatures and high winds. The Spartans came out on top 9-0 with the mercy rule ending the match halfway through the second half. The Spartans played aggressively and quickly scored three goals in just over 10 minutes. The Greenwave defense picked up strong though, with goalie Cesar Molina stopping a number of shots on the goal. By the end of the first half, the score was 5-0.
Spring Creek was still playing strong in the second half and scored three more goals. The mercy rule’s eight-point trigger was reached with 33:40 on the clock. Play continued as Fallon fought hard to score against the team of seniors; Spring Creek held them off though, scoring a final goal at 26:38.
Fallon coach Nathan Toigo said Spring Creek is the biggest physical mismatch he’s ever seen. He noted the Spartan players are much bigger than Fallon’s.
The Greenwave had little time to rest Friday night, playing Elko at 8 a.m. the next morning. While Elko came out on top, they played a full match, 8-1.
The two sides played a fierce game and raced across the field on equal footing. Molina was in the goal again and made several amazing saves, only letting three goals past in the first half. In the second half, Elko made another goal at 38:00; Fallon’s Adan Ugalde responded, however, shooting the ball past the Indians’ goalie at 28:00. Elko doubled down on its defense and kept the home team from scoring again, though the Greenwave had a number of good shots on the goal.
Toigo said the match against Elko was a good one; he noted they were not mercy ruled and had some great plays and pressure. He said they just need more experience playing as a team and noted they get better all the time.
“There’s still things we need to do and we still have a young team, but we have to build this program,” the coach said.
Toigo praised Brian Ugalde, saying he played well against Elko; he said Ugalde had great steals and was able to help open Elko’s defense to attacks.
The boys’ soccer team also played in Sparks, Wednesday, losing 9-1 with the mercy rule. The Greenwave’s one goal came from Cesar Molina in the second half. Toigo said they have been improving their passing and it was evident against the Railroaders. He also noted Robert Beckford for playing his best defensive game of the year, taking five steals and disrupting the Sparks players setting up shots.
“Sparks is always another tough team in our division and we continue to learn from those tough teams,” Toigo said.
Greenwave fans have also noticed the team’s improvements. Toigo recalled he’s had spectators approach him after matches and compliment how much they’re improving.
The boys play at home today against South Tahoe at 5 p.m. and at Incline Saturday.