SUNSET REGION: Arbor View girls blank Sierra Vista in Sunset Region soccer playoffs

Arbor View’s girls soccer team is as close to fully healthy as it has been all year, and the Aggies showed Tuesday they’re ready to put a hurt on the rest of the Sunset Region.

The Aggies peppered Sierra Vista with 15 shots on goal en route to a 4-0 win in a region quarterfinal at Bettye Wilson Park.

Arbor View (12-3-2) advances to meet Centennial in a region semifinal at 4 p.m. Thursday.

“I’ve known that this was in us,” Arbor View coach Jay Howard said. “This was as well as we’ve played in a long time.”

The Aggies didn’t just control play Tuesday; they dominated. In the first half, the Lions (10-6-1) barely got the ball across the center line.

Bianca Norman, Ashlea Andrade and Tori Dunn each scored in the first 28 minutes of the match, giving the Aggies a 3-0 lead.

Arbor View struggled with consistency on offense during the season, scoring seven or more goals nine times but being held to zero or one goal in six matches.

But Arbor View also struggled putting a consistent lineup on the field, losing as many as five regulars to injury.

“We’ve had two pretty serious concussions, an (anterior cruiciate ligament) injury and a (medial collateral ligament) tear,” Howard said. “We get someone back, and someone else gets hurt.

“We’ve been pretty consistently missing three or four kids. To make the playoffs with that many injuries shows our depth and that we have good players.”

Erica Peeples added a second-half goal, connecting on her eighth shot on goal of the match to up the lead to 4-0.

“We thought offense wasn’t going to be a problem this year, but we haven’t scored the way we thought we should,” Howard said. “If that opens up, we’re dangerous.”

Alex Luevano made just two saves to earn the shutout for the Aggies.

Sierra Vista goalkeeper Terryn Brown was fabulous, making 11 saves — several on point-blank chances.

Centennial 4, Bonanza 0 — Bethanie Skelton scored three goals in the first 37 minutes as the Northwest League champions rolled.

Skelton scored in the sixth minute and again just five minutes later to give the Bulldogs (15-1-1) a 2-0 lead, both times racing past the defense of the Bengals (8-6-3).

Julie Owens added a goal on a fantastic individual effort in the 14th minute to put Centennial up 3-0.

Owens wiggled away from three defenders and tucked a shot just under the crossbar.

Skelton completed the scoring in the 37th minute.

Gretchen Mikulich made three saves to earn the shutout.

Shadow Ridge 3, Durango 0 — Stephanie Sander scored two goals, and Kelsey Tesoro assisted on every goal to help the Mustangs (12-2-3) blank the Trailblazers (9-7-1).

Shadow Ridge broke a scoreless tie in the 37th minute and then tacked on two second half-goals.

“We played a lot more relaxed in the second half,” Shadow Ridge coach Harvey Robicheau said. “We were a little tight in the first half.”

Kelsey Kurth also scored for the Mustangs, who got a five-save effort from Megan Brown.

Shadow Ridge will face Bishop Gorman in a region semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Bishop Gorman 3, Palo Verde 0 — Hayley Wingender, Courtney Beckwith and Mariah Hobbs each scored a second-half goal to help the Southeast League champion Gaels (17-0) pull away.

Gorman finally broke a scoreless tie in the 53rd minute.

Wingender also added an assist for the Gaels.

Alex Holland made two saves to shut out the Panthers (10-5-2).