Soccer Three first half goals power Central girls past Brawley

EL CENTRO — Despite a wobbly start to the season and an unheard-of tie vs. the Imperial Tigers on Jan. 14, the Central Union girls’ soccer team is well on its way to a fifth-consecutive Imperial Valley League title as of this writing.

Close calls aside, none of the Spartans’ rivals have been capable of knocking them off their lofty perch in the standings, and at 5-0-1 in league play after a Tuesday victory here over Brawley, they may well have banked enough wins to ride out any storms to come.

As has been the case all season, Central was not distinctly overwhelming in their late game against the Wildcats, but they still had more than enough in the cupboard to dispatch their northerly foes.

The Spartans got it done with three quick hits in the first half, with seniors Melissa Dayleth Palacios, Andrea Camacho and freshman Emily Lopez Gamez each finding the back of the net.

Brawley never found anything like an answer, and while the ’Cats kept Central off the board in the second half, it didn’t do them much good as they only generated a couple of solid looks for themselves all game, each of which was turned away by Spartan goalie Leanna Gonzalez.

Both teams play again on Friday, with the Spartans rounding out their rivalry series with Southwest at Eagle Field and the Wildcats set to grind against the Calexico Bulldogs in Calexico.

Other results

Jan. 21 Calexico girls (6-6-4, 3-2-1 IVL) tie Southwest (6-5-3, 6-1-2 IVL), 1-1

Central boys (9-7-2, 5-1 IVL) def. Brawley (8-4-4, 3-2-1 IVL), 2-0

Imperial boys (8-9, 2-4 IVL) def. Palo Verde (314, 0-6 IVL), 1-0

Imperial girls (9-6-4, 3-0-3 IVL) def. Palo Verde (4-11, 0-6 IVL), 6-0