Virgin Valley begins playoffs

The Virgin Valley soccer teams had mixed results against Sunrise Mountain in the first round of the South 3-A Regional tournament at the Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex in Las Vegas.

The Lady Soccer Dogs, the second seed from the Sunrise Conference, were originally slated to play Pahrump Valley, the third seed from the Sunset, in Wednesday’s first round.

Virgin Valley’s girls grabbed a 1-0 lead on Wednesday with four minutes remaining in the first half on a goal by senior forward Abbie Barnum, the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Freshman forward Ally Wright upped the lead to 2-0 nine minutes into the second half when she scored off a rebound of Barnum’s shot that was knocked down by the Sunrise Mountain goalkeeper.

After the Lady Miners scored six minutes later to close within 2-1, the Lady Soccer Dogs quickly responded when junior Madison Cheney sent a crossing pass to junior Kari Wakefield on a 3-on-2 break.

Virgin Valley’s Ally Wright, right, tries to gain possession of the ball during Wednesday’s playoff win against Sunrise Mountain.

Sunrise Mountain, the Sunset top seed, improved to 15-0 and played Chaparral (15-7-2) in a semifinal Thursday night.