SUNRISE REGION: ‘Quiet’ Gators sneak into semifinals by burning Sundevils

It’s not easy for any soccer team to quietly go 16-1-4.

Yet, that’s exactly what Green Valley’s boys have done so far this year, but the Gators are starting to make a little noise now.

Or at least make people believe they’re every bit as good as their record suggests.

The latest example came Tuesday, when Green Valley held off a pesky Eldorado team for a 3-2 win in the Sunrise Region quarterfinals at Bettye Wilson Park.

“There really wasn’t a lot of talk about us all year,” Green Valley coach Roy Snyder said. “People take our league for granted. If you would have told me a one-loss team wouldn’t win it’s league, I would have told you you were crazy.”

Kyle Porterfield scored two goals and had an assist, and the Gators battled back after allowing a goal in the first minute of the match to take control.

Green Valley held a territorial edge in play, but needed a tie-breaking goal from Tim Shue with 20 minutes remaining to take the lead for good.

“If you look at our season, we played a lot of close games,” said Snyder, whose team is 9-1 in matches decided by one goal.

Porterfield scored both of his goals in the first half, and both from nearly the same spot on the field, approximately 20 yards out on the right wing.

But Eldorado (9-4-4), which saw its early lead on Oscar Fuentes’ header erased, rallied to tie the match early in the second half on a goal by Ruben Duran.

That set the stage for Shue’s winner, a blast from 20 yards out.

“We knew they’d be outstanding,” Snyder said of Eldorado, which tied Green Valley, 2-2, in both teams’ season opener. “They’re always a tough game.”

Green Valley advances to meet Las Vegas in a semifinal Thursday.

Las Vegas 3, Silverado 2 — Joaquin Rivas’ penalty-kick goal midway through the second half was the difference-maker as the defending state champion Wildcats (13-4) held off Silverado.

Rivas was tackled just inside the box on a run up the left side of the field. He buried the ensuing penalty kick low just inside the right post.

Silverado took advantage of two Wildcat mistakes to score two goals in a match for only the fifth time all season.

The Skyhawks (6-7-4) jumped on top five minutes into the match when Chase Leaders intercepted a clearing pass and scored with a low shot inside the left post.

Las Vegas struck back with goals by Justin Johnson from 18 yards out in the 13th minute and Ivan Chamorro, who knocked in a rebound of a shot by Rivas in the 29th minute.

But Silverado tied the match after Las Vegas’ keeper dropped the ball, allowing Jamie Ibarra to score off a loose-ball scramble with three minutes remaining in the match.

Las Vegas peppered Silverado keeper Vicente Gomez with 10 shots on goal in the second half, but managed only Rivas’ marker.

Tech 1, Chaparral 0 — Tino Carranza’s goal on a free kick from 40 yards out with two minutes left in the match touched off a huge celebration for the Roadrunners (12-3-2).

“It’s the first time we’ve won a playoff game,” Tech coach Josh Jones said. “It’s a big monkey off our back.”

And it took a solid defensive effort to eliminate the Cowboys (8-5-4).

“We’ve had a lot of one- and two-goal games,” said Jones, whose team has posted 10 shutouts this year. “To get this one is big for us.”

Abdel Rodriguez made six saves to earn the shutout for Tech, which will meet Valley in a semifinal on Thursday.

Valley 3, Coronado 0 — Joey Lopez scored twice in the first half, and goalkeeper Pedro Arias, and the Vikings’ defense turned away Coronado (7-5-5).

“We didn’t really dominate, but we had more of the play,” Valley coach Terry Pryer said.

Alan Arce added a second-half goal for Valley (10-4-5).

“We really did get lucky on a couple of the goals, but sometimes you earn your luck,” Pryer said.