Nevada Storm eyes 3-peat in Women’s Football Alliance

They are not a novelty anymore, nor have they been for a number of years — the Nevada Storm is just a superb soccer staff.

The Storm has gained two straight nationwide championships and this spring can be making an attempt for its third straight, this time within the highest aggressive degree attainable.

Ladies’s soccer in the US is much like high-level soccer all over the world; groups are promoted or relegated relying on how they fare every season.

The Storm gained the Division 3 nationwide championship in 2019, then the Division 2 title final 12 months. The 2020 season was canceled because of the pandemic.

This season, they’ve moved as much as the Professional Division within the Ladies’s Soccer Alliance. They tackle the Minnesota Vixens at 6 p.m. Saturday at Reno Excessive for his or her first house recreation of the season, which can be televised on CSTV.now.

The house opener can be a troublesome problem for the Storm, as Minnesota performed for the championship within the Professional Division final season, shedding to the Boston Renegades.

2 ladies breaking boundaries on the soccer subject this season in Northern Nevada

Minnesota is off to a different robust begin this season; as of Tuesday, the Vixen are in first place in Nationwide convention of the WFA Professional Division at 2-0, having outscored its opponents 96-6 in these video games.

The Storm, in the meantime, opened this season with a 22-8 win on April 16 over the Mile Excessive Blaze in Denver; they sit in third place within the American convention at 1-0.

‘It is a number of enjoyable’

A big a part of the Storm’s success comes from Sarah Colangelo, who had by no means performed soccer and discovered coordination and agility on the dance ground.

She now transfers that power into working round or via defenders — and stopping ball carriers — because the Storm’s fullback/exterior linebacker.

She was named the MVP of the D2 championship recreation final season, with Nevada beating the Detroit Darkish Angels, 42-18, on July 23 in Canton, Ohio.

Colangelo, who joined the Storm in 2018, attended and now works at Coral Academy of science in Reno as a P.E. trainer.

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She stated she likes the problem of soccer and testing herself, bodily and mentally, including that enjoying house video games helps inspire the gamers to carry out properly in entrance of mates and household.

Many of the Storm’s roster resides within the Reno space and throughout Northern Nevada, although a number of gamers are from Sacramento and Bishop, California.

Coach Chris Garza stated the Storm is named one of many extra bodily, explosive  groups within the league.

“Our protection is second to none yearly. We end on the high of the defensive rankings yearly,” Garza stated. “We love technique. We preach toughness. They need to get higher each play, whether or not on offense or protection.

“It is a number of enjoyable teaching these girls.”

Constructing consistency 

Quarterback Mo Oetjen has been with the Storm the previous 5 seasons. She stated the core group of gamers has remained the identical for about 5 years, which helps them construct off every earlier season.

“We have had a superb constant staff that comes again, so everyone knows what we’re doing,” Oetjen stated. “We get new rookies, however the majority is sort of the identical. The teaching employees is constant, which makes us higher and higher annually.”

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Garza stated the roster retains rising due to the staff’s previous success.

“Everyone needs to play for a champion,” he stated. “It is simpler to play for a champion than to join a staff that isn’t doing so properly.”

He stated emphasizing the household side of the staff has additionally led to the on-field success.

“This staff continues to be up-and-coming,” Garza stated of the Storm. “That is technically or third 12 months of our turn-around.”

Oetjen stated the objective is to win the Professional Division, including that no staff has ever gained three straight titles within the three divisions on which the Storm has performed.

To take action, the Storm must get higher on the move recreation and never depend on working as a lot.

“We have been working lots on our move recreation, we simply have to the alternatives to indicate what we will do,” she stated. “We have now some actually good receivers with good fingers.”

Tickets for Saturday’s recreation are $10 for ages 13 and up, $5 for ages 6-12, and 5-under are free.

“That is going to be a really true take a look at of the place our abilities are at and the place our thoughts is at,” Garza stated.

Storm Historical past

The Nevada Storm was based in 2010 as a full contact soccer staff with simply six gamers.

The staff has progressed to a full 11-on-11-player format and is acknowledged as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

For updates on the upcoming season and future occasions, go to nevadastormfootball.com; or, comply with the Storm on Fb.

Launched in 2009, the Ladies’s Soccer Alliance, in the meantime, is the biggest and longest working aggressive ladies’s deal with soccer league on the earth. Go to wfaprofootball.com to be taught extra.

Jim Krajewski covers highschool and youth sports activities for the Reno Gazette Journal. Comply with him on Twitter @RGJPreps. Assist his work by subscribing to RGJ.com.