Roundup: Coronado, Faith Lutheran girls to play for title — PHOTOS
Coronado’s game plan entering its Class 5A girls soccer state semifinal was simple: attack early and often.
The Cougars did that, scoring twice in the first half on their way to a 3-1 win over McQueen at Coronado.
The Cougars host Faith Lutheran at 10 a.m. Saturday in the state title game.
“It was good to see us do the things that we wanted to do,” Coronado coach Dana Neel said. “I didn’t see the playoff jitters. They looked comfortable and did what we needed to get the win.”
Asia Moises and Liliana Schuth scored for the Cougars in the first half, and Trinity Buchanan added another goal in the second half.
Saturday’s meeting with Faith Lutheran will be the third of the season and a rematch of last year’s state title game, which Coronado won 1-0.
“It’s the final step in our process,” Neel said. “We’ve done the process before, and we have one step left.”
Faith Lutheran 2, Galena 0 – At Coronado, Taylor Folk and Andrea Leyva scored for the Crusaders to get past Northern champion Galena in the other 5A state semifinal.
“We played the style we wanted to play,” Faith Lutheran coach McKenzie Karas said. “We took care of things and scored how we needed to score.”
Faith Lutheran handed Coronado its only loss of the regular season, but the Cougars were victorious in last Saturday’s Southern Region final.
“It’s exciting, especially for our first year of coaching,” Karas said. “We’re ready to get after it and have a good game between the two teams.”
Doral Academy 2, Silverado 1 – At Cimarron-Memorial, Sienna Turco scored twice to push the top-seeded Dragons past the No. 5 Skyhawks in the Class 4A state semifinals and into Saturday’s state title game.
“Sienna Turco proved how special she is, and new players stepped up and fought when we had injuries,” Doral Academy coach Kurt Divich said.
Goalie Kennadie Mashore recorded 10 saves for Doral Academy (17-0) to keep its perfect season alive.
Cimarron-Memorial 6, Legacy 0 – At Cimarron-Memorial, Jasmine Chavarria-Lopez, Kasandra Dominguez-Garcia and Giselle Leslie Canas scored two goals each to lead the No. 2 Spartans past No. 6 Legacy.
Cimarron-Memorial and Doral Academy will play for the 4A title at 10 a.m. Saturday at Cimarron-Memorial.
Truckee 2, Pahrump Valley 0 – At Dayton, the top-seeded Trojans fell to the Wolverines in the 3A state semifinals. Truckee will play Hug – a 3-1 winner over Virgin Valley – at 10 a.m. Saturday in the state title game at Dayton.
Boys soccer
Bishop Gorman 1, Sparks 0 – At Coronado, Bronson Rolley’s second-half goal was the lone score for the Gaels in their Class 5A state semifinal win.
“Bronson is a top-class player,” Gorman coach Kyle McKenna said. “He does a good job motivating the team, and he steps up in the big games when we need him to.”
McKenna admitted his team was “a bit shaky” and the performance was “not our strongest,” but credited his player for coming together to get the win.
The Gaels entered the Southern Region playoffs as the No. 5 seed and beat all higher seeds en route to winning the Southern Region title last week.
“Coming in as a fifth seed, no one thinks you’re going to be here,” McKenna said. “Everybody wants Gorman to lose, so it’s fantastic to get some wins behind us and go into the state championship game.”
Eldorado 2, Hug 0— At Coronado, Sebastian Puentes and Jordan Rodriguez each struck in the second half in the Sun Devils’ 2-0 win over Hug in the other semifinal.
“We came out even better in the second half,” Rodriguez said. “We finished all the chances we had, and that’s why we came out on top.”
Gorman and Eldorado will play at noon Saturday for the state title at Coronado. The Gaels were 1-0 winners in the team’s previous meeting in last week’s Southern Region final.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Rodriguez said.
Green Valley 4, Western 0 – At Cimarron-Memorial, Anwar Torres scored four goals to carry the top-seeded Gators past No. 4 Western in their Class 4A state semifinal matchup and into the state title game.
Faith Lutheran 2, Desert Oasis 0– At Cimarron-Memorial, Alex Estay and Huba Hajdu each scored in the second half to advance the No. 2 Crusaders past the No. 3 Diamondbacks.
Faith Lutheran and Green Valley will play at noon Saturday for the state title at Cimarron-Memorial.
McQueen 2, Equipo Academy 1 — At Dayton, top-seeded Equipo Academy fell to McQueen in the 3A state semifinals. McQueen will play Bishop Manogue — a 5-0 winner over SLAM Academy — at noon Saturday in the state title game.
Girls volleyball
Coronado 3, Bishop Manogue 0 — At Reno, Nanea Merryman recorded 11 kills for the Southern Region champion Cougars in a 25-17, 25-11, 25-11 victory in the Class 5A state semifinals.
Abigail Paulson added 10 kills as Coronado made quick work of Bishop Manogue at Hug High.
Coronado will play Northern region champion Reno High — which outlasted Bishop Gorman in five sets (19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-13) — at noon Saturday for the state title at Hug.
Arbor View 3, Liberty 1 – At Rancho, Willow Watson and Madison Garvin each recorded eight kills to lead the Desert League champion Aggies past the Lake League champion Patriots in a 4A state semifinal.
Arbor View will play Mountain League champion Sierra Vista — a 3-2 winner over Desert Oasis— at 2 p.m. Saturday for the state title at Rancho.
Boulder City 3, Spring Creek 0 – At Clark, the top-seeded Eagles put away the Spartans in three sets in a 3A state semifinal.
Boulder City will play Moapa Valley – a 3-0 winner over Dayton – at noon Saturday for the state title at Rancho.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on Twitter.
