Truckee boys top Faith Lutheran to repeat as 3A champs

The Faith Lutheran boys soccer team’s strategy to neutralize Max Brixey was to force Truckee’s star midfielder to use his left foot.

It worked marvelously — until the 69th minute.

That’s when the senior put in a goal using his left foot to break a scoreless tie and propel Truckee (Calif.) to a 2-0 win over Faith Lutheran in the Class 3A state title game Saturday at the Mesquite Sports Complex.

“They were saying I had no left foot or something like that, but I put it in with my left foot,” Brixey said. “The goalie slid to the left like I was going to cross it, so I just placed it in the post.”

Brixey had six goals and three assists in two state tournament games for the North No. 1 seed Wolverines (24-1-1), who won their second straight Nevada state title and third in four years.

“We knew Brixey had a right foot,” Faith Lutheran coach Nate Hagge said. “We knew he was the same caliber as (Crusaders forward) Ryan (Sniezyk), just the opposite foot.

“If we could push him right, he might get a shot that wouldn’t be directly on target or he might mess up a little bit. It worked for a good part of the game, until the end.”

South No. 1 seed Faith Lutheran (16-1-1) was outshot 16-4 in the game.

“I knew it would only take one goal to win the game,” Hagge said. “Time kept winding down, and I was hoping we’d be the team to get it in regulation.”

Salvador Tejeda scored seven minutes later for Truckee, which got an assist from Raul Cardenas and a three-save shutout from Ryan Newland.

“We really controlled most of the first half,” Wolverines coach Hernán Valdivia said. “Our focus was to stay patient.”

Truckee, which won 5-1 this year over 4A state finalist Galena, advanced to the title game with an 11-1 rout of Boulder City on Friday.

Brixey was glad Saturday’s game wasn’t as much of a snoozer.

“It was a good game; I like that better,” he said. “We had to work a lot harder this year than we did last year to win it.”

Marc Davies had 12 saves for Faith Lutheran, which was in its first state title game.

Sniezyk limped off the field briefly in the second half with what Hagge called recurring meniscus issues in his left knee, but he was able to return.

The senior finished his career as the Crusaders’ scoring leader with 101 goals.

“He’s pretty much been Faith soccer since he came in as a freshman,” Hagge said. “I honestly don’t think without Ryan here the team could have gotten to where it was.

“He challenged everyone at practice to play harder and play smarter, and with him out there leading, they stepped up their game to play with him.”

The Crusaders rise to 4A next year after outscoring opponents 111-4 this season.

“We’re excited about going 4A because we’ll have more league games and more (junior varsity) games, which is exciting to keep the program going,” said Hagge, whose team loses six seniors. “We know each game’s going to be competitive, and we’ll learn something from every game.

“There won’t be many more blowouts. We’ll see how good we really are.”