I-A GIRLS SOCCER: Omidiji puts on first-half show as Mountain Lions cruise

It was more than enough time for the Sierra Vista senior to make her mark.

Omidiji scored five goals and had an assist in the first 28:50 of the match as the Mountain Lions rolled past Sunrise Mountain, 7-2 in a Division I-A Southern Region quarterfinal at Faith Lutheran.

“It’s not unusual for her to have a good game like this, and she really came through in the playoffs,” Sierra Vista coach Ross Muir said. “The players that we needed to have stand up really did.”

Omidiji wasted little time getting on the board, taking a lead pass from Angelina Iniguez and running in on the left side to score just 6:10 into the match. She added a hard-angle shot from the goal line six minutes later and stole the ball after a goal kick and cashed in at the 18:40 mark to give Sierra Vista (10-4-2) a 3-0 lead.

Omidiji set up Morgan O’Neal for a goal at 21:10, then scored an unassisted goal just 30 seconds later to increase the margin to 5-0.

After a Calista Reyes goal, Omidiji again struck from a tough angle to make it 7-0 at the 28:50 mark.

Omidiji and Reyes, arguably the Mountain Lions’ two best players, spent the rest of the match on the bench.

“Our speed was a big factor up top,” Muir said. “We really took advantage of a little mismatch in quickness, but you can have all the speed in the world, but you still need to be able to finish. That’s what they did today.”

The Mountain Lions hadn’t played particularly well down the stretch, scoring just once in their final two matches and going 2-2-2 in their last six regular-season matches.

“The girls exceeded expectations,” Muir said. “This was their first playoffs in Division I-A, and we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We just prepared hard since the last regular-season game, and they came out and showed what they’re made of right from the beginning.”

Brisa Pena-Martinez finally got the Miners (9-6-3) on the board, collecting a pass from Miriam Galvez and scoring in the 23rd minute of the second half. Galvez added a goal with two minutes to play.

Sierra Vista will face Spring Valley (9-5-2) in a semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Park.

“This gives us some confidence, but we know it just gets harder as you go,” Muir said. “We’re still realistic. We still know how hard we have to work to accomplish what we want to do.”

Spring Valley 3, Tech 2 — Jozee DeCunzo tucked a 30-yard free kick just under the cross bar 5:05 into overtime to help the Grizzlies stun the Sunrise League champion Roadrunners.

Tech’s Monica Figerora tied the match at 2-2 with just less than 25 minutes to play, and both teams had scoring chances in the final minutes of regulation before the Grizzlies controlled much of the overtime.

Sahana Bojorquez and Savannah Villanueva also scored for Spring Valley.

Kanene Mossiah scored a first-half goal for Tech (16-0-2).

Clark 2, Virgin Valley 0 — Ariana Reyes scored a goal in each half, and the Chargers blanked the Bulldogs.

Reyes knocked down a Virgin Valley goal kick and scored from 28 yards out just 5:10 into the match to give Clark (11-6-2) the lead for good.

She tacked on a goal off a corner kick by Stephany Chavez-Navarrete with 15:40 to play in the match. Clark, which advances to meet Sunset League champion Faith Lutheran (16-6-3) in a semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Park, had 14 shots on goal.

Virgin Valley (12-6-5) goalkeeper Spencer Green made 12 saves.

Faith Lutheran 10, Desert Pines 2 — The Crusaders were held off the board for the first 21 minutes of the match, but erupted for five goals in each half to down the Jaguars.

Brenna Rohnkohl had four goals, and Kristi Chinn scored three for Faith Lutheran. Emily Neighbors added two goals and an assist, and Megan Sonerholm had a goal and two assists for the Crusaders, who got three assists from Nikki Amavisca.

Jeanna Marin and Deisy Lozano scored for Desert Pines (8-4-3).