Silverado freshman Cooklin scores two late goals to break deadlock

Before the girls soccer match between Coronado and Silverado on Tuesday, the teams had played a combined 560 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal.

It took nearly 75 more minutes, but the Skyhawks broke that trend.

Freshman Rachel Cooklin scored in the 74th and 75th minutes to lift Silverado to a 2-0 victory and push the Skyhawks into a tie for first place in the Southeast League with Green Valley. The Gators were 3-2 losers to Tech on Tuesday.

“(Scoring the first goal) felt really good, and I was kind of surprised when I saw it go in the back of the net,” said Cooklin, who leads the team with 19 goals.

Rikki Virginia crossed the ball to Cooklin, who blasted a right-footed bullet into the left side of the net. A minute later Cooklin stole the ball near midfield and made it 2-0.

The Cougars forced 10 shots in the first half, including four on goal, but the Silverado backline stepped in to make four saves in front of goalkeeper Samantha Lewis.

“Our back four has been solid for us all year,” Silverado coach Jenna Carter said. “They have come together this year, some new girls playing some positions they haven’t played before, but they’ve stepped it up. They definitely kept us in the game the first half. We were fortunate that at halftime it was 0-0.”

Lewis made five saves to earn her 11th shutout of the season.

 

Silverado’s attack exploded in the final 15 minutes with seven shots — five on net — to go with Cooklin’s two scores.

“(Cooklin) is a rocket. If you put the ball to her feet, she’s going to do good stuff with it,” Carter said. “It’s a matter of getting the ball to her, and then watching her work. But she can score from outside the 18, and she can go through the defense. And she’s only a freshman. ... She’s fun to watch.”

Having a strong defensive presence keeps the pressure off attacking players, Cooklin said.

“It’s really important, because you know they’re always there to back you up, and if you mess up, you know they will be behind you to catch you,” she added. “If we didn’t have that, we couldn’t have won the game.”

Coronado goalkeeper Katelyn Fahrner posted five saves.