SUNRISE REGION: Rodriguez nets winner as Gators bounce Patriots

Ivan Rodriguez had a pair of game-winning goals during last fall’s Sunrise Region tournament.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the junior was in the middle of things on Monday.

Rodriguez scored on a 35-yard free kick in the second minute of the second overtime period to give the Gators a 4-3 victory over Liberty in the Sunrise Region quarterfinals at Heritage Park.

It was the third goal of the game for Rodriguez.

“These kids have been resilient all year,” Green Valley coach Jacob Rivera said. “They’ve found ways to win games when they’ve been down. Ivan, last year in the playoffs and this year, he’s found ways to score goals.”

Rodriguez’s left-footed free kick bent just off the fingertips of the Liberty goalkeeper to end the game.

Liberty (11-6-1) took a pair of first-half leads, the first time on a goal by Josh McCollum and the second on a goal by Danny Musovski.

But both times Green Valley (11-4-3) responded to tie the game. Rodriguez scored in the 24th minute to even the game at 1-1, and the Gators tied the game at 2-2 just before halftime when Bryan Baugh’s long throw-in went into the net off a Liberty defender.

Rodriguez scored 10 minutes into the second half to put Green Valley up 3-2, but Musovski answered five minutes later with his second goal to even the score. Musovski also assisted on McCollum’s goal.

“They’ve got a great player in Danny Musovski,” Rivera said. “He gave us some trouble in the back and created opportunities for their team. We were just a little undisciplined in the back, so he was able to put us under a lot of pressure.”

Rivera credited goalkeeper Victor Marquez with a couple key saves down the stretch to keep the Gators alive.

“Our goalkeeper came up big when we needed him to, and that was the big difference,” Rivera said. “He made some saves when he had to and kept us in the game.”

The Gators play Las Vegas at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals.

Coronado 2, Canyon Springs 0 — Chase Rinehart netted a pair of free kicks in the second half to help the Cougars (8-6-4) earn their first postseason victory.

“We’ve been in a curse for the last like 10 years, so that was our first playoff win, so it’s amazing,” Coronado coach Dustin Barton said.

Rinehart’s first goal came on a one-hopper that skipped past the Pioneers’ goalkeeper in the game’s 43rd minute.

He added a 25-yard free kick in the 56th minute.

“Two set pieces, and that’s the game,” Barton said. “We’ve had bad luck all year, so it was just kind of nice to have something come our way. It’s been one of those years. We just can’t finish, and today we finished twice.”

About a minute after Rinehart’s second goal, Canyon Springs’ Daniel Moran received a red card for throwing a punch during a scuffle, and the Pioneers (10-4-3) were forced to play a man down the rest of the way.

“That’s exactly what we needed, actually,” Barton said. “We just had to possess the ball after that and hang on for the win.”

Kaviyon Sadrolashrafi had the shutout.

The Cougars take on Eldorado at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the semifinals.

Eldorado 3, Rancho 0 — Andres Lua scored three times as the Sundevils (14-3-1) shut out the Rams (8-6-2).

Francisco Santiago added two assists, and Sammy Tapia recorded the shutout.

Las Vegas 7, Del Sol 1 — Daniel Nunez-Renteria had two goals and an assist as the Wildcats routed the Dragons.

Nunez-Renteria scored almost immediately, and Del Sol never threatened.

Alexis Berrios added a goal and an assist, and Jesse Nava, Estevan Benavides, Abraham Paz and Danny Tepayotl each added a goal for the Wildcats (12-2-2).

Randy Delemos scored for Del Sol (6-7-3).