4A STATE PLAY-IN: DeSalvo’s save helps Pahrump advance to state semifinals
It took only one save for Pahrump Valley goalkeeper Madzia DeSalvo to make her mark on the Class 4A girls soccer state play-in match Wednesday at Pahrump.
DeSalvo made four saves in 110 minutes of play, but it was her fifth that counted most.
After Faith Lutheran and the Trojans played through two overtimes tied 2-2, DeSalvo made the play of the match, stopping Kendall Pori during a penalty-kick shootout.
The save and a subsequent goal by Terah Larmouth lifted Pahrump to a 5-3 win in the shootout and its first trip to the 4A state tournament.
The Trojans will travel to Reno for a state semifinal matchup against the North’s No. 2 seed on Nov. 12 at 4 p.m. at Damonte Ranch.
“It was just another shooter, so I had to keep on my toes, keep everything out of my mind,” said DeSalvo, who moved to Pahrump from Illinois before this season. “It’s all for the girls. This is my first season with them, and I know that we’ve been working for this for so many years. I wanted to support the girls, and get that banner up — our first banner.”
Fourth-year Pahrump coach Greg Leseberg said the Trojans’ combination of youth and experience was a key factor in the win.
“This is four years coming,” Leseberg said. “I have seven seniors on this team, and four freshmen, and they came together so well this year. They deserve every bit of this win. We get a big 4A zone champion banner.
“It was disappointing that we lost to (Faith Lutheran) in league, but we knew we had them. It was only a matter of time. They played 110 minutes, and they didn’t give up. They fought through everything.”
The Trojans also got a little help for the shootout in practice, where Leseberg set aside the final minutes for three days to perfect their penalty shots.
“They took shot after shot with our keeper, Madzia, in there,” Leseberg said. “She was stopping our girls. We knew it’s a 50-50 guess, but she’s smart, and she got it.”
Four of Pahrump’s five penalty shots trickled into the bottom left corner, a spot that seemed just out of the reach of Faith Lutheran goalkeeper Kelly Zufall, who finished the night with 13 saves. Zufall kept the Crusaders in the match during the two overtimes, making six diving saves to preserve the tie.
Amber Dove, Courtney Lindsey, Sydney Sladek, Melissa Ewing and Larmouth each converted a penalty kick for the Trojans.
Faith Lutheran took a 1-0 halftime lead when Marissa Fehrman stole the ball from a Pahrump defender and scored less than 10 minutes into the match. Sladek tied the match three minutes into the second half by punching in a pass from Alexi Smith.
“It felt like time just stopped right on me, and everyone was watching,” Sladek said. “It felt like if I didn’t make that goal, we would’ve lost. It started off that second goal, which led us on.”
Faith Lutheran’s Erika Manning added a goal three minutes later. The goal was set up by Kristen Uy’s long throw-in into the box to Fehrman, who dished a pass to Manning for the redirect goal.
But Pahrump came back again midway through the half. Melissa Ewing crossed the ball to Janet Garcia, whose glancing shot found the back of the net.
