Improving Spartans earn tie with Mustangs

First-year Cimarron-Memorial girls soccer coach Travis Bowker believed his team was better than the distant fifth-place finish it exhibited in the Northwest League last year.

The Spartans took a step toward showing that improvement Thursday.

Brooke D’Onofrio scored early, and Cimarron’s defense withstood a second-half push to hold visiting Shadow Ridge to a 1-1 draw at Bettye Wilson Park.

The result marked a dramatic improvement for the Spartans, who lost to the Mustangs 3-1 at home in last season’s final game.

“I wasn’t totally sure how we would do this year, but coming in I knew we had some talent,” Bowker said. “I knew we could do better than fifth place last season. Playoffs are definitely something we’re capable of.

“I’ve just got to get them to realize it — I think that’s the hardest part, getting the players to realize how truly good they can be and how well they can play as a group.”

D’Onofrio opened the scoring in the 12th minute, taking a pass from midfielder Hailey Kirkwood near midfield and pushing through four Shadow Ridge defenders to slot home a goal to the bottom right corner.

The goal helped the Spartans settle into the game, but the Mustangs took advantage of the defensive mindset. Ariana Carmona broke free in the 33rd minute to power home an unassisted blast into the left netting to tie the score.

“At first, (D’Onofrio’s goal) seemed to give us a little bit of a pep,” Bowker said. “But then we seemed to fall back on our heels a little bit. I don’t think we’re quite confident enough as a team to give the opponent the opportunity where we sit back and let them take the game to us.

“We need to definitely take the game to them for 80 minutes if we want the best chance to win.”

Cimarron outshot Shadow Ridge 8-4 in the first half but saw the Mustangs rebound with a 6-3 shots advantage after the break.

Kirkwood saw a golden opportunity for the game-winner 15 minutes after halftime, but goalkeeper Alex Murrietta adeptly saved her shot from the top of the box.

Shadow Ridge’s Megan Cice saw her potential go-ahead goal off a free kick from the edge of the penalty box slide right in the 66th minute.