SUNSET SOCCER: Bengals shock Palo Verde

Bonanza’s girls soccer team wasn’t exactly a popular choice to win its Sunset Region tournament opener.

The Bengals entered the tournament having won just once in their previous four matches and were facing one of the most potent offenses in Southern Nevada.

A little faith, some fantastic ball control and just a sprinkle of playoff magic all came together at the right time for the Bengals on Monday.

Megan Cousineau’s unassisted goal off a turnover with four minutes remaining in the match lifted Bonanza to a 2-1 upset of Palo Verde in the Sunset quarterfinals at Heritage Park.

“I’m actually in shock, complete shock,” Bonanza coach Courtney Bauder said. “But I knew we could do it. We just played our hearts out. We just kept our level high.”

Bonanza (8-4-2) will face Bishop Gorman (14-0) in a region semifinal at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The Bengals had the bulk of the first-half possession, but had nothing to show for it and went into halftime tied 0-0.

“We had 80 percent of the possession in the first half, and my assistant coach just said to go for it offensively,” Bauder said. “We made some switches, and it paid off.”

And in the opening minute of the second half, the Bengals finally broke through with Jessica Piazza sending a pass across the goal mouth to the right side. Two players missed the ball, and it came to Kate Cousineau at the right post for a tap-in goal.

The Panthers (16-3-1) evened the match 15 minutes later when Hannah Gunderson was in front to knock in a pass from Macee Barlow.

Palo Verde came into the game having scored 84 goals and allowed just 13 in its first 19 matches.

But the Panther defense made a key mistake in the final five minutes, losing the ball about 25 yards in front of its own goal. Megan Cousineau gained control away from a Palo Verde defender and chipped a high shot under the crossbar and into the net.

Palo Verde had one last chance to tie the match with 90 seconds left, but Serenity Grim’s redirection at the side of the net trickled just wide.

“We held it together,” Bauder said. “That’s what we’ve been looking for all season. We really put our heart into this game.

Bonanza goalkeeper Samantha Haieck made seven saves.

Bishop Gorman 1, Sierra Vista 0 — McKayla Philippi banged in a loose ball off a scramble in front of the net four minutes into the overtime as the Gaels survived.

A throw-in from the left side skimmed off the head of Gorman’s Daisy Cabrera on the left side of the net. Gorman’s Sidney Anderson poked at the ball, but was stopped by Sierra Vista goalkeeper Dejah Burchfield. The rebound went off two players to Philippi just on the right edge of the goal, and she fired it in.

Burchfield was fabulous, keeping the Mountain Lions (9-6-2) in the match by making 16 saves.

Gorman’s Jessica Anaya made five saves.

Arbor View 2, Desert Oasis 0 — Jessica Longhurst and Breanna Larkin each scored midway through the first half, and the Aggies (12-1-4) never were seriously threatened by the Diamondbacks (7-8-3).

Longhurst’s 30-yard blast from the right side skimmed off the fingertips of Desert Oasis goalkeeper Tiara Rosenberg and into the net 17 minutes into the match.

Larkin followed six minutes later, knocking home Lexi Epley’s pass.

Arbor View will face Shadow Ridge (9-7-3) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Shadow Ridge 1, Cimarron-Memorial 0 — Lindsay Irwin converted a penalty kick seven minutes into the second half as the Mustangs eliminated the Spartans (7-5-1).

Irwin took advantage of the lone major breakdown by Cimarron’s defense and was breaking in alone before being caught from behind and tackled in the box by a Spartans defender.

She fired the penalty kick into the left side of the net.

Dallas Gunny made two saves en route to the shutout.