The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate soccer team played in two matches over the last week, earning a draw in each. The team now boasts a 4-1-3 record.
On Saturday, Sept. 21, the Pirates hosted the Alamosa Mean Moose for the team’s second league game of the season.
After a goalless first half, the Pirates fell behind early in the second half after the Mean Moose scored from a play off a throw in the Pirates’ half of the field.
“We kind of gave ‘em that one,” coach Trevor Gian said, explaining the Pirates were slightly lackadaisical and let the Mean Moose through on goal rather easily.
“We missed that one,” he added.
Gian explained that the first half against the Mean Moose was fairly even, though the Pirates did not produce as much offensively as Gian would’ve liked.
He mentioned the team has been working on keeping its shape, along with maintaining possession offensively to create scoring opportunities, rather than relying on a kick-and-run style of play.
Gian explained that he switched some players around, moving Alex Pham from a central midfield role to a wide attacking position to give the Pirates a different option going forward.
The Pirates dominated possession for most of the second half, Gian noted, with the Mean Moose trying to settle in defensively and not going for another goal.
The Pirates were able to tie the game with about eight minutes remaining. The goal came from a build-up play through the midfield, with the ball being played out wide on the left flank behind the Mean Moose defenders.
Ryder King was able to get the ball down to the touch line and get a shot on goal that was saved, with the rebound falling to an unmarked Pirate attacker who tapped the ball into an open net.
“It’s the best we’ve looked offensively in a long time,” Gian said.
The Pirates thought they had won the match with a late goal with less than two minutes left in the half. An offsides call on the play disallowed the goal, leaving the game tied at 1-1.
“I sure thought we won it,” Gian said.
He explained that “those are just things” the team has to deal with and that he was proud of the Pirates for getting into a position with a chance at winning the game.
“We came with a lot of heart, lot of fight, lot of emotion,” he said.
Gian praised his team for its effort against the Mean Moose, noting it was impressive to see the team fight back and get the tying goal.
With that result, the Pirates remain undefeated in league play with a league mark of 1-0-1.
Gian noted the result could be important moving forward in terms of playoff seeding, adding that the Pirates will face off against the Mean Moose one more time in the regular season.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, the Pirates traveled to Taos, N.M., to take on the Tigers.
The game ended in a scoreless draw after two periods of golden goal rule overtime.
Gian explained that New Mexico high school soccer has different rules pertaining to overtime in the regular season than Colorado, which has done away with regular season overtime completely.
“I wasn’t anticipating going into overtime,” he said, explaining the overtime consisted of two 10-minute golden goal periods.
Under the golden goal rule, the first team to score in overtime is the winner.
“At that point, we were pretty cooked,” Gian added, “but we fought hard and stayed in it.”
He mentioned the Tigers pushed hard toward the end and that the Pirates had to weather a storm to keep the Tigers out of the net.
Gian described the Tigers as another fast, physical and a “very quality team.”
The Tigers entered the matchup with an overall record of 7-2-1, and were ranked first in the New Mexico 4A District 2 standings.
Gian explained that the Pirates played with three attackers and were able to put pressure on the Tigers’ defense throughout the game.
“We looked pretty good for a while,” he added, noting the Tigers were able to disrupt some of the Pirates’ scoring chances by being physical and knocking the Pirates off the ball.
Gian added that he was pleased with some of the Pirates’ offensive play, with balls being played out wide and back across the face of Taos’ goal.
“We had a chance to go up there for sure,” he said.
He noted the Pirates started to lose some steam toward the end of the second half.
“We got a little gassed,” he said, mentioning he started to make more substitutions.
Gian noted that even though the Pirates started to get fatigued, the subs were able to shut down the Tigers and keep them from scoring.
He also praised goalkeeper Christopher Young-Martinez for his performance.
“Another outstanding performance by Chris,” he said.
Gian mentioned King’s performance, as well, saying, “Ryder King played his heart out.”
With a little more than 15 minutes left in the second half, Gian explained that he moved Milo Deitemeyer from his defensive sweeper position into an attacking position to try and get some more fresh legs up top.
Gian explained that after about five minutes of playing as an attacker, Deitemeyer suffered an injury from an “ugly, ugly tackle.”
Gian explained that Deitemeyer was slide tackled inside the Tiger box, with the opponent’s cleat studs being shown, but that no foul was called.
“I’m pretty disappointed ... it wasn’t a soccer play,” he said.
Gian noted it was a “real blow” to the team and that Taos was able to gain some momentum after that.
“That kind of shocked us,” he added.
Other than the injury to Deitemeyer, Gian commented that the game was a “good match overall” with lots of effort and respect given by both teams.
Gian also indicated Deitemeyer will be out for the remainder of the season.
“He’ll be around,” Gian said of Deitemeyer, adding that he will be supporting the team and helping coach up some of the other players.
“He’s a good voice,” Gian added. “He is a really important part of that team.”
Additional stats for the games were not available as of press time Wednesday.
The Pirates will be host to another league match against the Bayfield Wolverines at Golden Peaks Stadium at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Gian explained that he would like to see the Pirates come out strong against the Wolverines and try to get on the scoreboard early.
“That’s going to be a big one, we need to try and find a result there,” he said.
Gian talked about how the two teams have somewhat of rivalry history and that the Pirates will need to bring the same effort and intensity that they’ve shown throughout the season so far.
clayton@pagosasun.com
