Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Buchanan’s OT goal rewards Cougars
Coronado girls claim 5A region soccer title over Faith Lutheran
Goals come at a premium when the Coronado and Faith Lutheran girls soccer teams meet, and this time the Cougars ended up with the game-winner.
ROUNDUP
Senior midfielder Trinity Buchanan scored in overtime to give Coronado a 1-0 victory over the Crusaders in the Class 5A Southern Region final Saturday at Bettye Wilson Park.
Faith Lutheran beat Coronado 1-0 during the regular season.
“Trinity has been a star for us all year. She’s led us all year,” Coronado coach Dana Neel said. “It was good to see her get that because she worked so hard to keep this team at the high level that it is.”
The Cougars will host the state tournament next week. Coronado will play Mcqueen at 10 a.m. Friday, and Faith Lutheran will meet Northern champion Galena at noon.
Neel said the region title is nice, but her team is focused on bringing home a state championship.
“We’re chasing the end goal here, which is the state championship,” she said. “What happens during the season, the regional final, it’s just part of the buildup of what we’re ultimately going for.”
■ Pahrump Valley 2, Virgin Valley
1— At Bettye Wilson Park, senior forward Adryanna Avena scored the game-winning goal eight minutes into the first overtime period to lift the Trojans past the Bulldogs.
Pahrump Valley will take on Truckee in the Class 3A state semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday at Dayton. Virgin Valley will play Northern champion Hug at noon.
Boys soccer
■ Bishop Gorman 1, Eldorado 0
— When Bishop Gorman coach Kyle Mckenna had to pick a player to take a penalty kick, there was only one who came to mind.
Mckenna tabbed senior forward and Gaels captain Nicholas Lazarski to take the shot after Eldorado was called for a yellow card on a penalty in the goal area.
Lazarski converted for the game’s lone goal, and Gorman defeated Eldorado in the Class 5A Southern Region final at Bettye Wilson Park.
“With Nick, our big-time players will step up in the big games,” Mckenna said. “He’s always nice and composed when it comes to big games. I’ll always rely on him in the penalty kicks.”
The Gaels will be the No. 1 seed at next week’s state tournament and will face Sparks in the first state semifinal at 2 p.m. Friday at Coronado. Eldorado will play Northern champion Hug in the other semifinal at 4 p.m.
Regardless of Saturday’s result, the Gaels had already qualified for the state tournament, but Mckenna said
entering the tournament off a win will benefit the Gaels.
“It’s huge to be the one seed,” Mckenna said. “Coming back after losing to try and win a state semifinal is very tough. But taking that win and going in, it’s a huge momentum booster for the guys.”
■ Green Valley 3, Sierra Vista 1 — At Bettye Wilson Park, senior Anwar Torres scored two goals and registered an assist for the Gators. Green Valley will play Western — which edged out Sunrise Mountain on penalty kicks — in a 4A state semifinal at 2 p.m. Friday at Cimarron-memorial.
■ Desert Oasis 1, Arbor View 0— At Bettye Wilson Park, senior forward Marco Lizarraga scored the game-winner in overtime for the Diamondbacks. Desert Oasis will face Faith Lutheran — a 3-1 winner over Shadow Ridge — in the other 4A state semifinal at 4 p.m. at Cimarron-memorial.
■ Equipo Academy 4, SLAM
Academy 3 — At Bettye Wilson Park, senior forward Valentin Ruiz scored the game-winning goal in the 3A
Southern Region final.
Senior forward Henry Rodriguez scored two goals and registered an assist for Equipo, which will play Mcqueen in the 3A state semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday at Dayton. SLAM will play Northern champion Bishop Manogue in the other semifinal at 4 p.m.
Girls volleyball
■ Coronado 3, Bishop Gorman 0
— In the regular season, the Cougars and Gaels went down to the wire, with Gorman prevailing in five sets.
The Class 5A Southern Region final was a different story, as the Cougars swept the Gaels 25-22, 25-14, 25-17 to win the region title at Palo Verde.
“Today’s win was very gratifying,” Coronado coach Matt Johnson said. “The team has put in the work to get to this point.”
After a tight first set, Johnson said his team settled down and limited its mistakes. Senior outside hitter Nanea Merryman only had one hitting error on 26 attempts, and senior middle hitter Jaiden Perez had eight kills on 11 attempts with no errors.
The Cougars will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s 5A state tournament and and will face Bishop Manogue at 7:15 p.m. Friday at Hug High School in Reno.
“We will celebrate this win today and then get back to work on Monday and get ready for the next challenge before us,” Johnson said.
Merryman led the Cougars with 13 kills, and junior outside hitter Abigail Paulson had 10 kills.
Bishop Gorman will be the No. 2 seed at state and will play Reno High in the other semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Hug.
■ Boulder City 3, Moapa Valley
0— At Boulder City, the Eagles took the 3A Southern Region title with a 25-11, 25-18, 25-19 victory over the Pirates.
Boulder City will be the top seed in next week’s 3A state tournament and will play Spring Creek at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Clark. Moapa Valley will follow against Dayton at 6:15.