Palo Verde upsets Centennial

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

Led by stellar defense and goalkeeping, the Centennial Bulldogs allowed two goals all through the regular season.

Tuesday night, their total doubled and their season ended.

Palo Verde upset Centennial, 2-1, in the Sunset Region girls' soccer semifinals at Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex. Defending state champion Centennial took an early lead, but a second-half goal from Marissa Lucero tied it. With two minutes left, Palo Verde's Kayla Lambert sealed the deal.

"We took a gamble, and played a 4-3-3 (alignment). We have three fast forwards working together, and tough midfielders," Panthers coach Marc Hechter said. "I've got to give the defense tremendous accolades and this game was won by a strong defense working together. They had to fill big shoes when Kalie was injured."

Defender Kalie McGuire injured her right leg in Saturday's overtime win against Durango. Hechter cited the play of freshman Morgan Maloney in taking McGuire's place.

But despite Saturday's overtime, Tuesday's comeback, and frosty temperatures for both games, Hechter said he has no intentions of letting his team lay low for Thursday's region championship against Bonanza. All of Tuesday's winners advance to next week's four-team tournament for the south's share of the NIAA championship.

"We rested (Monday), we made a team decision not to have a practice," Hechter said. "You either advance to state and move on, or you go home... after all the injuries, we decided to just have shop talk, look at different configurations, and put things together."

Bonanza, riding high after a 4-0 quarterfinal win and a 3-1 win over Bishop Gorman Tuesday, took a different approach. Bengals coach Gerald Kearney said he is less concerned about Thursday than about next week.

"It's not critical," Kearney said of Thursday. "We're going to play soccer and have fun. If we play real good soccer, we keep the momentum. There's no pressure going into that game."

Bishop Gorman had two prime chances to take a lead early after being awarded two first-half penalty kicks. Both failed, dooming the Gaels.

While the Gaels were unable to take advantage of their chances, Silverado used a penalty kick to earn a 1-0 double overtime win over Green Valley. The Gators' loss means that both of last season's state finalists will not return to the tournament.

The Skyhawks' Natalie Griffin appeared to be tripped by Gators goalie Elizabeth Winkelblech, and the referee awarded Silverado a penalty kick about two minutes into the second overtime. Silverado's Karla Lee converted the penalty kick to advance the Skyhawks.

Griffin stood on the sidelines, apparently unable to walk, while her teammates celebrated on the field. Green Valley players fought back tears, and an irate spectator charged onto the field and verbally abused the referee as he walked away.

Silverado coach Vicki Mangione said that Griffin was actually their normal penalty kick choice.

"Natalie would have taken it, but she wanted Karla to take it," Mangione said. "Both tams played incredibly hard, I don't like to see games go to PKs. We pulled together as a team, and we had to play like a team."

The Skyhawks will play Thursday for the Sunrise championship against another rival , Coronado. The Cougars beat Foothill, 5-1, to move on.

"We're just looking forward to a good game," Coronado coach Greg Viscardo said of Thursday's region championship. "Silverado always plays hard, I'm just looking to see my team get better each and every game, and play hard."