Legacy playoff win is milestone
Legacy’s boys spent all of last season looking for their soccer program’s first win, without any luck.
On Tuesday, the Longhorns gained their 11th victory, but more importantly the first postseason win in the team’s brief history.
Legacy (11-4-3) surprised Sierra Vista (9-2-6), winning on penalty kicks after the teams played through overtime in a 0-0 tie in the opening round of the Sunset Region playoffs at Bettye Wilson Park.
"We played a great, great game," Legacy coach Jose Gomez said. "You hate to see it decided by penalty kicks, but our kids didn’t quit.
"To go from where we were last year to where we are now, I couldn’t be more proud of these kids."
Legacy will face Centennial (16-2-1) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Kevin Rogge and Dustin Westover each had a goal and an assist in the Bulldogs’ 2-0 win over Spring Valley (5-6-5).
Chey McDonald got the shutout for Centennial.
Defending state champion Bishop Gorman (12-1-3) survived a major scare, beating Palo Verde (8-7-3) on penalty kicks, 2-2. Western (7-7-2) advanced with a 2-1 victory over Cheyenne (11-4-3) and will face Gorman at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Legacy went 0-19 in its first season last year and finally collected the program’s first win Sept. 5.
"The kids have been preparing since August for this, to get to the first round and get a win and keep moving on," Gomez said. "We weren’t satisfied getting to the first round."
Stellar play by goalkeeper Edwin Cisneros, who had seven saves, and solid defense allowed Legacy to play through regulation and two overtimes without allowing a goal.
Sierra Vista goalkeeper Andrew Fontein also was sharp, making eight saves.
In the five-player shootout, Legacy connected on all five shots. The Lions missed on their fourth attempt, which sailed over the crossbar.
Gorman trailed 2-1 in the second half before tying the match on a penalty kick goal by Cody Barnett. The Gaels controlled the final 20 minutes of regulation and both overtimes, peppering Palo Verde goalie Eric Garcia (21 saves), but couldn’t score.
The teams were tied 4-4 after the first five penalty kicks and decided it on the third sudden-death round when Jeremy Monterross scored and Palo Verde couldn’t answer.
The Gaels will face a Western team that made the playoffs by upsetting Gorman 1-0 in the final week of the season.
The Warriors got goals from Gelmin Molina and Carlos Ponce to eliminate Cheyenne.
• SUNRISE REGION — Las Vegas led 1-0 at halftime, then needed a strong effort by its back line to hang on for a 1-0 win over Green Valley (9-5-4).
Joaquin Rivas took a pass from Christian Basurto, tipped the ball in the air and headed it into the Green Valley net in the 29th minute.
The Wildcats (11-2-3) had other chances, but were stonewalled by Gators goalkeeper Ryan Barraza.
"We should have killed the game in the first half," Las Vegas coach Vince Hart said. "We had some one-on-ones and their goalkeeper was the best we’ve played all season."
Las Vegas defender Anthony Acosta helped preserve the win with two stellar defensive plays. First, he caught Green Valley’s Aric Bonner on what looked like a breakaway and was able to clear the ball for a corner kick.
Acosta later cleared the ball off his own goal line after a deflection by Wildcats goalkeeper Rogelio Zaragoza.
Las Vegas will play Silverado in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Thursday in a rematch of last year’s Sunrise title game.
Silverado (14-2-3) was a 2-0 winner over Rancho (6-7-3). Esau Salazar and Chase Leaders scored, and Joey Mora recorded the shutout.
On the other side of the bracket, Basic (9-3-6) made the most of its first playoff appearance since 1979 with a 2-0 victory over Valley (7-7-2).
Edgar Arizmendi had a goal and an assist for the Wolves. Daniel Bowman also scored and Chris Garcia had the shutout.
Basic will play Eldorado (14-3-1) at 6 p.m. Thursday in the other semifinal.
The Sundevils got two goals from Josh Cormier in a 4-0 victory over Del Sol (8-7-4).
Rene Ardon and Nelson Garcia also scored, and Alberto Alvarez got the shutout.
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