Women’s Varsity Soccer
by Addison Stanton
On Wednesday, November 2nd the Coronado Women’s Varsity soccer team kicked off against the Desert Oasis Diamondbacks. This match-up made it the fourth meet-up between these two teams. After a challenging, heart-rate-rising game, the Cougars won 2-1 and advanced to regional championships.
The first half was very calm with Coronado having majority possession and Desert Oasis’ back line holding the Cougars’ attacks off. Every time the Cougars got near the Diamondbacks’ center backs, the midfielders would drop back to assist in protecting the goal. This made it very difficult for the Cougars to get one in the goal. With a scoreless first half, Desert Oasis entered the second half with momentum and scored one early. Panic slowly began to settle into the Cougars as each minute passed more and more shots were taken. With three minutes of extra time, junior Lilliana Schuth brings the ball down from a corner and slips it past the goalie tying the game in the knick of time.
Overtime commences and there were multiple opportunities for the Diamondbacks to seal the game. Overtime is played with sudden death so one goal ends the game. With a multitude of miraculous saves from junior goalkeeper Megan Kingman, she kept the Cougars in the game. The first overtime remained scoreless. Entering the second overtime, the Cougars had to wind at their backs and determination of no other. Just as the game was about to go to penalty kicks, junior Tia Garr splits the defenders and floats the ball into the net sealing the game for the Cougars, 2-1.
You can find the Cougars in another tough battle against Faith Lutheran on Saturday, November 5th at 12 pm at Bettye Wilson Sports Complex.
Men’s Varsity Soccer
by Brianna Gracia
Coronado’s Men’s Varsity Soccer challenged the Eldorado Sundevils in the regional semi-finals. Though they fought hard, they lost with a score of 1-0 at Bettye Wilson Park. The last time the two teams faced off was at the home conference game on Monday, October 3, in which they tied.
The game started in the favor of Coronado. According to many players, it was expected they would be taking home the game moving forward to play Bishop Gorman, but while Coronado’s Men’s Varsity team was strong, Eldorado came with just as much of a fighting spirit. The two went head to head, neither relenting and pushing the game into overtime.
“It started well,” said senior right back Ezra Baptista. “We were the better team, and at the start, we had five opportunities to score, but just couldn’t.”
Overtime quickly became heated as neither team could get a score in. Both goalies were fierce defenders, catching the balls with their hands and pinning shots to the ground with one clamp of their cleats. It was only in the last minute of overtime that Eldorado managed to get a headshot past Coronado, which quickly became a free kick into the net on their end.
“I think we did a great job of crossing and moving the ball,” said Baptista. “The whole game we defended pretty well. We just got unlucky.”
Despite the loss, the Coronado Men’s Varsity team played valiantly throughout the season, tackling enemy team after team just to secure a spot in regionals. It’s truly been an impressive season.
Women’s Varsity Volleyball
by Madeline Vernaci
With a stunning score of 3-0, Coronado’s Varsity Volleyball team defeated Palo Verde in the semifinals on Wednesday, November 2nd. This win puts them into the championship game with Bishop Gordon.
“I think overall we played very well as a team and pulled out a crucial win in the first set to set the tone for the following two sets,” junior Hannah Pemberton said.
With a tough win in the first set, the girls won their first point with a score of 27-25. Moving into the next set, the Coronado volleyball team sails through with a score of 25-17. Their last set was won with another score of 25-17, allowing them to sweep Palo Verde with a final score of 3-0.
“We as a team are going to work on a lot of serving and passing along with our hitters’ connection with the setters,” junior Abigail Paulson said. “We want to be as solid as possible for regionals and the work we put into these skills will help us achieve that.”
Next, the Coronado Varsity Volleyball team will face off against Bishop Gordon for the regional championship game. The final match will take place at Palo Verde High School this Saturday, November 5, at 11am.
