Defenses stand out as Rancho, Eldorado tie in girls soccer

The last time Rancho and Eldorado met in a girls soccer match, the teams combined to score eight goals in an offensive display.

For the second matchup of the top two teams in the Northeast League, it was all about defense.

Sophomore goalkeeper Katelyn Comeno made four saves Friday to help the Sundevils earn a 0-0 road draw with the Rams.

“To be the best in this division, you’ve got to beat the best. And we came to try and beat them today,” Eldorado coach Gerald Pentsil said. “We played hard, and they played hard; they’re a good team, and we respect that.

“But I’m happy with the result. We at least got a point, instead of not picking up any point.”

Junior netminder Rachael Wiltshire also made four saves to earn the shutout for the Rams (9-2-2, 8-0-2 Northeast), including a diving, one-on-one stop against Sundevils midfielder Alexis Sama in the 58th minute to preserve the shutout and keep Rancho three points ahead of Eldorado (7-4-2, 7-1-2) in the Northeast League.

“Having Rachael back for her second year is huge, especially along with our stopper and sweeper,” Rancho coach John Besancon said. “They’ve all worked together for over a year now; it’s awesome, having a senior and two juniors back there. You can’t beat it.”

The Rams narrowly outshot Eldorado 8-6 in the match, with each team posting four shots on goal.

“Every game’s a new adventure,” said Besancon, the first-year coach of the Rams, who have outscored league opponents 52-8. “You never know; sometimes you score a bunch, sometimes you’ve got to go with a defensive game.

“Today was all defensive for both teams; not a lot of shots either way.”

The draw adds another match to an impressive shutout streak for the Sundevils, who haven’t allowed a goal since a 5-1 home win against Sunrise Mountain on Jan. 8.

“(Defense is) very important,” Pentsil said. “They know that if we play defense as a team, if we get that one goal or two goals, we can hold them. We don’t need to score three or four goals to win the game; we can score one or two and win, because they know that we’ve got a defense back there that can hold it.”