Centennial girls top Shadow Ridge in Sunset Region soccer semifinal

When Centennial girls soccer coach Emmanuel Ayim replayed last week’s loss to Arbor View in his head, he saw the same breakdowns over and over.

So as the Bulldogs prepared for the redo of the Sunset Region playoffs, their focus primarily was on defense.

“We know what we did wrong in the previous loss, and we corrected the mistakes,” Ayim said. “And it showed today.”

Faith Johannes and Sophie Krauza scored two minutes apart in the second half, and the top-seeded Bulldogs’ defense did the rest in a 3-1 win over Shadow Ridge on Thursday in the regional semifinals at Bettye Wilson Park.

Defending champion Centennial (16-2-1), which fell 3-0 to Arbor View in the semifinals last week before the playoff bracket had to be replayed, meets Bishop Gorman for the region title at 4 p.m. Monday. The winner takes on Sunrise Region champion Coronado (16-1-2) for the Class 4A Southern Nevada championship Wednesday.

“We knew somebody was looking after us,” Centennial senior defender Ashley Mosley said. “We got a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and we wanted to take advantage of it.”

The Mustangs (13-4-3) were playing their second game in as many days — and fourth in nine days — and fatigue appeared to finally set in. Centennial grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute on a goal by Katelyn Thein, and the Mustangs were unable to mount any sustained pressure until the midway point of the second half.

“We have no excuses,” Mustangs coach Harvey Robicheau said. “The girls did the best they could. I’m proud of them.”

The Bulldogs put the game away early in the second half. In the 47th minute, Johannes made it 2-0 when she pushed forward and blasted in a rebound after the Shadow Ridge defense blocked Julie Owens’ initial shot. Krauza then gave Centennial a three-goal cushion when her shot from 20 yards out went off the post and past Mustangs goalkeeper Megan Brown.

Centennial’s defense, led by the Utah-bound Mosley and Johannes, was rock solid, even clearing a shot off the goal line in the 59th minute. Bulldogs goalkeeper Gretchen Mikulich made four saves, the best of which came in the 26th minute when she punched out Brittney Esquivel’s dangerous free kick.

Third-seeded Shadow Ridge broke the shutout in the 76th minute when Kelsey Tesoro got a head on a free kick from Esquivel and redirected it past Mikulich.

“Until we subbed three defenders, we were pitching a shutout,” Ayim said. “Our defense came out strong. They were disciplined, organized and took care of business.”