GILBERT — The Class 2A No. 11 Gilbert girls soccer team got revenge against top rival Nevada with a 5-0 victory over the Cubs on April 30.
The Tigers were in control from start to finish as they avenged a 1-0 loss to the Cubs in last year’s 1A regional finals.
“It’s definitely good that we came back off of a loss to them last year at (regionals),” said Gilbert midfielder Greta Platts. “It’s definitely a chip off our shoulder to get that win today.”
The victory put Gilbert at 6-0-2 on the season. Nevada fell to 4-4-1.
Here are three things we learned from Gilbert’s decisive victory.
Tiger midfield controls the game
Gilbert possessed the ball on the Nevada half of the field for nearly the entire game.
The Tiger midfield was outstanding. Lila Kruckenberg and Izzy Terrones covered a ton of ground as they controlled the ball, stopped Nevada through balls, and set up their forwards.
Ray Mueller, Allie Grandgenett and Greta Platts kept constant pressure on the Cub defensive back line and Nevada keeper Hailey Gruhn all game.
Sammy Johnson and Kennady Hansen were also weapons in the midfield.
Johnson came up from her spot in the defensive back line and used her tremendous speed to run down balls and blow past Cub midfielders to get her teammates the ball. She was also a weapon on corner kicks.
Hanson did a good job possessing the ball and she also scored Gilbert’s second goal of the game on a 15-yard shot 25 minutes into the game.
Raya Mueller leads Gilbert’s offensive charge
Forward Raya Mueller led Gilbert’s offensive charge with two goals. It was her first game back after attending an International Career Development Conference in Georgia.
Mueller scored the game’s first goal off a nice ball from forward Madisen Powers 14 minutes into the game. She added another score on an open net 6 1/2 minutes into the second half.
Platts netted a goal on an impressive shot with 10 minutes left in the first half. Kylie Marquette completed the scoring with a goal 14 minutes into the second half.
It was a statement performance against a program that has made 14 consecutive trips to the state tournament.
“It looks really good for us to beat them by that much,” said Mueller. “I think our ranking should be a lot higher. I think it will help if we continue to win games and win by that much.”
Nevada still putting things together
Nevada is in a rebuilding year.
The Cubs lost three all-state performers in twins Avery and Evelyn Anderson, along with talented midfielder Aubrey Thompson and keeper Bella Tamburo off last year’s state tournament team. They also moved up from 1A to 2A this season.
There have been some rough patches as a result. Prior to the loss to Gilbert, the Cubs suffered a 4-0 loss to 2A No. 13 Bondurant-Farrar, a 2-0 setback against 1A No. 7 Colfax-Mingo and an 8-0 loss to 2A No. 9 Adel-Desoto-Minburn.
But there is still time for Nevada’s young players to gel. There were some positive signs in the second half against Gilbert, and Gruhn gave a gutsy performance at keeper.
“We play a tough schedule, and we do it on purpose so we can grow,” said Nevada co-head coach Justin Evans. “We knew Gilbert was going to be really good — they do what they want to do, and they do it well. Since the ADM game, I do think we’ve gotten better. We saw some fight out of our kids today.”
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Gilbert tops Nevada in high school girls soccer, 5-0