On May 5, the Nevada boys soccer team hosted the Nevada Invitational Soccer Tournament. They played three games against Marshalltown, Kuemper Catholic, and Gilbert. Nevada Beat Kuemper Catholic and Gilbert, with scores of 2-0 and 3-1. Nevada did end up losing to Marshalltown 2-4.
Playing three games in one day can be tough for any team, but Nevada played well the majority of the day. The first game against Marshalltown saw the team have a slow start, but they got focused and finished the game well. In their second and third games Nevada controlled the pace of play and were able to create many quality scoring opportunities.
“We weren’t able to capitalize on as many scoring opportunities as we would have liked, but the fact that we had the opportunities we did was definitely a positive,” said Coach Todd Sampson. Nevada’s team defense improved over the course of the day as well. Last week in practice they really stressed their focus on defense in the defensive third and marking opposing players to limit open shots.
“We need to continue to be creative in the offensive third and we need to work on finishing close to the goal. We had three opportunities inside the penalty spot where shots went wide or over the net,” said Coach Sampson.
Again Nevada’s ball control and passing were good the majority of the weekend, the coaches feel their guys are starting to see plays develop sooner and are able to make the right pass quicker and more accurately.
Overall Nevada ended up placing third at the tournament.
Article contributed by Christian Hawbaker.
