Lopez fuels Shadow Ridge girls soccer to win over Cimarron-Memorial

Shadow Ridge forward Taylor Lopez scored two first-half goals Tuesday.

Neither was as impressive as her second-half assist, though.

Lopez had a hand in each of the Mustangs’ three scores, and freshman goalkeeper Dallas Gunny made them stand up as Shadow Ridge shut out visiting Cimarron-Memorial 3-0. The win gives the Mustangs a six-point lead on the Spartans for the Northwest League’s final playoff spot, with three matches left.

“I knew it was a free kick, so I was waiting on the sideline, and I gave the signal,” Lopez said of her left-footed cross that found Ariana Carmona for the game’s final goal. “I went down the sideline as far as I could, looked to the side for a split second ... kicked it as hard as I could, and she put it in.”

Lopez took a pass from Vanessa Pena six minutes into the match to open the scoring, then redirected a throw into the box by Dametria Haddock from the right sideline in the 18th minute for a goal that gave Shadow Ridge (9-3-3, 6-3-2 Northwest) a 2-0 halftime advantage.

“It was a big win; we needed this,” said Lopez, a sophomore striker who tallied her 17th and 18th goals of the season.

Pena’s shot off the crossbar in the second half’s opening minute was countered by an offensive surge by the Spartans (6-6-3, 4-5-2 Northwest). Adriana Moreno, Hailey Kirkwood and Ashley Alvarado all put shots on goal for Cimarron, but each was smothered by Gunny, who finished with five saves for her third straight shutout.

“She’s been a big surprise,” Shadow Ridge coach Jamie Gibo said. “We have her and Alexa (Murrietta) as two strong keepers that are freshmen, so we’re looking forward to this season and three more years with them. Even though they’re freshmen, they anchor our defense and get them to talk a lot more.”

The Mustangs haven’t allowed a goal since Jan. 24, a four-match streak that has seen both Gunny and Murrietta start in goal.

“We’ve just done a lot of team-talking,” Gibo said. “I tried to inspire them all year long ... and I finally just said 'you guys just have to want it.’

“They want to win as much as every other team.”

Shadow Ridge outshot the Spartans 9-5 while holding prolific goal-scorer Brooke D’Onofrio to one off-target shot and only a handful of touches with defensive efforts by Katie McClure and Megan Cice.

The win continues an impressive stretch for the Mustangs, who defeated then-Northwest leader Centennial 1-0 on Feb. 1 before holding Arbor View to a 0-0 draw Thursday at home.

Shadow Ridge has matches at Palo Verde, at Cheyenne and at Legacy, and Cimarron finishes the regular season with home matches against Mojave and Cheyenne and a road game against Arbor View.