Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Coronado freshman needs two minutes to make mark
Vasquez’s OT goal lifts Cougars past Eldorado
Javier Vasquez went from benchwarmer to hero on Saturday. All in a matter of two minutes. Coronado coach Dustin Barton summoned Vasquez from the bench at the beginning of overtime in the Class 4A Sunrise Region boys soccer championship game against Eldorado at Bettye Wilson Park, and the freshman promptly responded by firing a missile into the top right corner of the net to lift the Cougars (24-2-3) to a 2-1 victory over the Sundevils (14-3-3).
Vasquez struggled to find the words to explain the meaning of the moment, so he settled on one: “Crazy.”
Coronado’s entire roster sprinted toward Vasquez and formed a dogpile near the center of the pitch. The players were awarded their trophy moments later and burst into “Ole!” chants as a satisfied Barton watched a few feet away, knowing they’re back in the state tournament.
“I wanted (Vasquez) to play more defensively,” Barton said. “He just went in, struck it, goal. Brilliant goal.”
Sunset Region
No one who saw it will forget Brandy Chastain’s celebration after winning the 1999 women’s World Cup. It wasn’t the World Cup, but the Sunset Region title is good enough for Alexander Daseler.
The Bishop Gorman junior forward collected the ball in the box and put top-shelf past the diving keeper two minutes into overtime Saturday to lift the Gaels boys soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Durango in the Sunset Region title game at Bettye Wilson Park.
Then he ripped off his shirt and celebrated like a madman.
“Every time I score a goal, every
time I do something like that, it just comes out of me,” Daseler said. “It’s second nature for me.”
It took awhile for the action to start Saturday, and it wasn’t until the 32nd minute that the first shot went on goal. Fortunately for the Gaels (20-1-4), it went in off Hayden Madsen’s foot to draw first blood.
But like Gorman, the Trailblazers (16-5-3) also capitalized on their first shot on goal. It was a free kick, yards outside the box in the 56th minute, and Jaime Munguia drilled it into the upper-left corner for the equalizer.
Each school had one shot on goal for the rest of the game, but the Gaels took advantage of theirs.
Class 3A Southern Region
The Sunrise Mountain boys soccer team is only as good as senior Bryan Martinez is.
Good thing for the Miners that Martinez might be one of the best players in Nevada.
Martinez scored two goals in the Class 3A Southern Region title game to lead the Miners (16-1-0) to a 3-0 win over Tech (12-6-4) at Bettye Wilson Park.