Sunset semis include scrappy Panthers

Nick Christensen

Monday, Feb. 9, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

Two big injuries to his team and the prospect of facing a Centennial team that has allowed just two goals all season are not enough to get optimistic Palo Verde coach Marc Hechter down.

But the Panthers scored both of those goals, albeit in losses to the defending state champion Bulldogs. Hechter still sees that as something to build on as Palo Verde and Centennial meet Tuesday night in the Sunset Region girls' soccer semifinals at Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex.

"We do have a fairly deep bench, as high school soccer teams go," Hechter said. "We're going to evaluate different ways to deal with the options at hand, but I'm very comfortable with immediate reserves.'

Palo Verde defender Kalie McGuire injured her knee in Saturday's 3-2 double-overtime win against Durango and is out for the year. Hechter said that halfback Nikki Velez, who bruised her ankle, could play Tuesday.

Tuesday's winners will advance to Thursday's regional championships and will also earn berths in next week's 4A southern state championship, as teams from the North play in the fall. Centennial coach Jay Howard expects a tough match in his team's quest to get back to state.

"We have a lot of respect for Palo Verde. They create some problems for us with their size, since we're a pretty small team," Howard said after his team's 6-0 quarterfinal win against Clark.

Howard still sees room for improvement from his team.

"We didn't make good decisions all the time," he said. "We don't want to take anything away from Clark... we didn't play real smart in the weather, and it looks like Tuesday, there could be some wind again."

Northerly winds that gusted up to 40 mph swept across the complex, adjacent to Cimarron-Memorial High School in northwest Las Vegas. The wind chilled spectators and caused teams playing into it to think twice about putting the ball in the air.

But playing with the wind was a blessing. Nowhere was that more evident than in Foothill's 3-1 upset of Rancho, where two Falcons goals drifted in after being hung up by the air.

Falcons coach Robyn Volesky said she had a feeling about the wind before the game started.

"You have to go to what works with the wind, we got a little bit of luck on our side, we called the right side of the field," Volesky said. "It was a gut feeling we had, 'Let's go with it, if it does pick up, this is the way it's going to go,' and we won it in the second half."

Volesky now has to figure out a way to defeat Coronado on Tuesday. The Cougars, who advanced with a 3-0 win against Chaparral, took both meetings from Foothill this year.

Two other Southeast teams, Silverado and Green Valley, will meet in the other Sunrise Region semifinal. Silverado defeated Las Vegas, 2-1, Saturday, and the Gators blanked Eldorado, 4-0.

"It's a grudge match always between Green Valley and Silverado," Gators coach Joe Jablonski said.

Silverado coach Vicki Mangione said she thinks the rivalry might make her players more prepared to challenge the top-seeded Gators.

"I think mentally it's probably easier to get the girls up when it's a rival, like Green Valley or Coronado, so I think they bring a little bit more energy and intensity to the game," Mangione said.

Bonanza and Bishop Gorman meet in Tuesday's other Sunset Region semifinal. Bonanza defeated Shadow Ridge, 4-0, and Bishop Gorman scored early in overtime to upset Cimarron-Memorial, 1-0.

Bonanza coach Gerald Kearney said the familiarity of the Southwest Division rivals is an advantage to his team.

"We're very familiar with them. We've beaten them twice, and we're not expecting an easy game at all," Kearney said.