SUNRISE SOCCER: Green Valley works OT for win

Green Valley’s boys soccer players didn’t want high-scoring Liberty forward Danny Musovski to beat them on Tuesday.

So when the game went to overtime, the Gators made sure Musovski wouldn’t have a chance.

Green Valley’s Enzo Trasante scored in the first minute of the sudden-death overtime to earn a 2-1 win in the Sunrise Region quarterfinals at Heritage Park.

“Hey, it’s golden goal so that means you’ve got to finish it in the first two minutes,” Green Valley coach Jacob Rivera said. “The longer it goes, the more opportunities the other team’s going to have. That Danny’s the most dangerous kid I’ve ever seen play out here, so the less time we give him to have chances to score on us, the better our chances are to win the game.”

Green Valley (13-8-2) took the ball on the overtime restart and streaked down the right sideline. Maliq Cooper crossed the ball to Trasante, who knocked in the winner.

“Maliq Cooper played a great cross in, and I don’t know if it hit him in the head or the face, but it went in,” Rivera said. “Any time it goes in, that’s all we care about.”

The Gators led 1-0 after a 30-yard shot by Ricardo Nunez skipped past the Liberty keeper in the 62nd minute. But Musovski, who had 57 regular-season goals, finally got free after taking a long pass from Joey Hollimon. Musovski controlled the ball near the top of the penalty box, beat a defender, and then dribbled past the keeper and put the ball in the net to tie it with nine minutes to play in regulation.

“Getting that goal, it feels like some of the pressure’s off,” Rivera said of Nunez’s shot. “But with Danny, every game we’ve played him, he’s always got at least one, two, three. It was good to have an insurance goal, but the game’s never over with that kid.”

The Gators did a good job of limiting Musovski’s scoring opportunities. He finished the game with just four shots.

“Our game plan was to front him with one of our best defenders and play almost like a zone behind him,” Rivera said. “Most teams play behind (him) and once he’s got the ball on his feet, he’s dangerous. We tried to front him the whole game and take away that big threat to us.”

The Gators play Las Vegas (12-6-3) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Liberty finished 16-3-2.

Canyon Springs 4, Foothill 1 — Gaspar Gonzalez and Jonathan Martinez each scored twice as the Pioneers (9-6-3) eliminated the Falcons.

Michael Carnahan scored for Foothill (11-8-2).

Eldorado 3, Silverado 1 — Chris Perez had a goal and an assist to power the Sundevils over the Skyhawks.

The teams traded penalty kicks in the first half, and Perez slipped the ball to Israel Hernandez, who hit a right-footed shot to the far post to break the tie four minutes in to the second half.

Perez added an insurance goal nine minutes later. Eldorado (17-0-2) survived a barrage of shots by Silverado in the second. Sammy Tapia had six second-half saves to preserve the lead.

Edgar Duran scored on a penalty kick in the first half for the Sundevils, who play Canyon Springs in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Jacob Holquin converted a penalty kick to put Silverado (4-7-5) up 1-0 midway through the first half.

Las Vegas 2, Coronado 1 — Alexis Berrios and Ricardo Guzman each had a first-half goal, and the Wildcats held on to defeat the Cougars.

Justin Lyons scored in the second half for Coronado (8-8-2).