Centennial begins state title defense with ease

By Steve Silver

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 | midnight

Centennial sophomore forward Bethany Skelton led the Bulldogs in scoring during their run to the state championship last season.

After notching a first-half hat trick in Centennial's 4-0 blowout of Bonanza in the Sunset Regional quarterfinals Tuesday, a repeat of her freshman year feat seems imminent.

Skelton wowed the large crowd gathered at the Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex at Cimarron-Memorial High School as she scored the game's first two goals by simply blazing past the defense with her uncanny speed.

"She's a natural goal scorer," Centennial coach Emmanuel Ayim said. "I give her all the freedom and all the confidence to take as many shots as she needs and today they fell for her."

On her first goal Skelton broke through a double team to send a low shot inside the right post in the sixth minute.

Less than five minutes later, Utah-bound senior midfielder Ashley Mosley set up Skelton's second goal to put the Bulldogs on top 2-0.

Bonanza's defense struggled to find an answer to Centennial's offensive onslaught as future UNLV star Julie Owens extended the Bulldogs' lead to 3-0 in the 14th minute.

Near the end of the first half, Skelton buried her third goal of the night with a high looping kick over the charging goaltender to cap Centennial's scoring binge at 4-0.

"We know we have a good team, but we didn't want to over think the game," Skelton said. "We respected our opponent, thinking they would come out strong and tough, which they did. But we were ready and we put out all of our effort to win tonight."

Centennial (14-1-0), which has outscored opponents 103-8 this season, pulled back the pressure in the second half and utilized its bench players to hold the lead.

The Bulldogs will now face Northwest Division foe Arbor View (10-3-2) in the Sunset Regional semifinals on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Arbor View slammed Sierra Vista 4-0 on Thursday thanks to goals by Bianca Norman, Ashlea Andrade, Tori Dunn and Erica Peeples.

Centennial and Arbor View met twice in the regular season with the Bulldogs prevailing in both contests with a 3-0 victory at Arbor View on Jan. 26 and a 3-1 home victory on Feb. 19.

"In the playoffs anybody can win on any given day so we have to bring it," Ayim said.

In other Sunset Region action, Kelsey Tesoro led Shadow Ridge with two goals as the Mustangs dropped Durango 3-0.

After a scoreless first half, Hayley Wingender, Courtney Beckwith and Mariah Hobbs added second half goals to propel Bishop Gorman past Palo Verde 3-0.

Shadow Ridge (10-2-3) will meet Bishop Gorman (15-0-0) in the second Sunset Regional semifinal on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Sunrise Regional quarterfinals provided a few thrillers as Green Valley eked out a 1-0 overtime victory over Eldorado.

Freshman Londyn Lopez netted the game-winning goal for the Gators seven minutes into the sudden-death extra period.

Green Valley (13-1-1) next faces a talented Rancho (12-1-0) squad that blasted Basic 5-0. The Gators and the Rams face off at 4 p.m. Thursday.

On the other side of the Sunrise bracket, Silverado senior Shelbi Spooner scored two goals to lead the Skyhawks past Las Vegas 2-1.

Coronado also benefited from a pair of goals by its senior leader, Veronica Subu, who netted both goals in the second half for the Cougars' 2-0 win over Valley.

Silverado (9-4-2) will meet Coronado (14-0-1) on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Steve Silver can be reached at 948-7822 or [email protected].