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All four North Lake and Truckee soccer teams advance to state finals

Alex Close
Sierra Sun

LAS VEGAS, NEV – Truckee High’s boys and girls soccer teams, as well as North Tahoe’s boys and Incline’s girls, won in the semifinal rounds of the Nevada state championship at Cimarron-Memorial High School’s beautiful Bettye Wilson soccer complex on Friday.

The Wolverine boys started things off on Friday night by knocking off Boulder City 4-1.

The first goal came 30 seconds into the game off a long throw-in by Scott Kelly that was headed off the woodwork and finally finished by Andy Apolinar.



Fifteen minutes later Kelly was fed a ball on the right corner of the 18-yard box and unloaded a shot that was too hot for Boulder City’s goalkeeper and bounced through his hands and into the back of the net.

Max Brixey fired off a shot from the 18 in the close of the half. Boulder City’s goalkeeper Nigel Walton made a great save but Brixey powered through Walton’s second attempted save to finish Truckee’s third and final goal of the half.



Boulder City’s Wyatt Huber caught second-half Truckee keeper Will Akers off guard and out of position with a high bending ball that found its way to the far post side netting to put the Eagles on the board.

Two minutes later Emmanuel Sarabia converted a penalty kick to score Truckee’s final goal.

Playing simultaneously at 6:30 p.m., Truckee’s girls and North Tahoe’s boys both battled out their semifinals.

Truckee’s girls also faced Boulder City, and ended the Eagles’ season by a score of 2-1.

Nearly eight minutes into the game Stephanie O’Neil was on the spot to power through two attempted saves to convert the rebound off a rocket of a shot.

O’Neil’s goal held until midway through the second half, when Sara Grossman crossed a lovely ball into the center for a streaking Samantha Deen, who blasted off a one-time shot to bulge the Eagles net.

In the last minute of the game Boulder City’s 6-foot forward Noelle Milicic found Truckee’s net with her head off a corner kick. It was too little too late for the Eagles, as Truckee’s dominate ball movement and tenacious desire earned them another day.

North Tahoe’s boys dropped Faith Lutheran on the next field over by a score of 2-0.

The first goal came five minutes into play off of a Laker free kick on the corner of the 18-yard box as Eric Holman was on the spot to finish the rebound off the crossbar.

The Lakers dominated the first half, but could not manage another goal, and the score held through a battle of a second half. North Tahoe keeper Michele Basile was forced to make a few key saves and the Laker defense showed its worth.

In the final minute of play, Rogelio Rodriguez broke away from the Crusader defense and slipped the ball past Faith Lutheran keeper Kevin Briggs for the second and final Laker goal.

The Lakers’ and Wolverines’ wins set up a repeat of the Northern Nevada championship ” in which Truckee won 3-1 ” with the two rival powers squaring off for the state championship Saturday at 10 a.m.

Incline’s girls team defeated Faith Lutheran 4-2, leaving the girls championship a repeat of the Northern Nevada championship that Truckee handily took from the Highlanders, 3-0.

The girls state championship game kicks off Saturday at 12:30 p.m.


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