Gators rally to down Silverado
When Silverado senior midfielder Rikki Virginia scored a first-half goal in Tuesday night’s match, Green Valley’s girls soccer team found itself in an unfamiliar situation: trailing 1-0 at halftime.
But Gators coach Joel Parks emphasized one word to his team.
“Composure. I told them not to get frazzled, to stick to what we do,” Parks said. “Everything we worked on in practice. ... We just stick to the game plan. I know that sounds cliche, but that’s really what it was.”
Such a plan involved two goals by sophomore Cassidy McLean, including one less than a minute into the second half, and a game-winner by junior Kayla Varner to lead the Gators to a 3-2 home victory in Southeast League play.
Green Valley (9-3-1, 6-0 Southeast) forced six shots on goal in the first half, including a cross from Alyssa Rodriguez to Varner that narrowly missed the net.
“When we went into halftime, we were kind of upset, because we were pretty sure we had a goal in the first half,” McLean said. “But we were pumped up from that. We were ready to go out there and kick some butt.”
McLean scored both of her unassisted goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half, when the Gators put nine shots on frame to Silverado’s three.
“It was crazy,” McLean said of her first goal. “It was off of Asli (Kupoglu’s) free kick, and I just happened to be in the right place; I was able to put it in.”
Green Valley outshot the Skyhawks 28-12.
“(McLean is) that way, and very utilitarian — I can play her anywhere,” Parks said. “I had her wide, I had her central, and I had her up top. There just isn’t anything that kid can’t do.”
Gina Coleman buried a 69th-minute shot in the left side of the net as the Skyhawks tied the match at 2 before Varner scored on a long ball two minutes before the final whistle.
“We worked so hard together, building up to those big climaxes,” McLean said. “It’s a whole team effort, getting to where I just happened to be there to put (the goals) in.”
