The Douglas Lady Bulldogs soccer team saw their season come to a premature end Friday with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Flagstaff Coconino Lady Panthers in the 4A DII state quarterfinals in Mesa.
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Coconino came to Douglas last year and fell 1-0 in the first round. According to the Flagstaff paper the Arizona Daily Sun, Coconino remembered that loss and was seeking “redemption” Friday in the rematch.
The Lady Bulldogs would go on to the state semifinals only to lose 2-1 to Cottonwood Mingus making it their most successful season (in terms of state advancement) in the history of DHS girls soccer.
Both Douglas and Coconino seemed to match up well despite the 12 and 4 seed difference.
Neither team scored in the first half; both squads had some chances.
Coconino scored seven minutes into the second half taking a 1-0 lead. Lina Campbell then scored for Douglas in the 72nd minute off an assist from Elise Urquijo tying the match at 1-1.
Campbell had a chance to win the match for Douglas in the closing seconds of regulation. Her shot on goal sailed through the hands of the Panthers goalie, hit the top cross bar of the goalies box and bounced back onto the field but the Lady Bulldogs were unable to put it back in the net.
Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation the match went to overtime. It was the second straight match Douglas would have that would go to OT who two nights earlier went to overtime with Paradise Valley.
Only this time Coconino scored with three minutes left in the first half of the OT period and kept Douglas out of the net in the second half coming away with a 2-1 win ending the Lady Bulldogs season.
Douglas out shot Coconino 13-7; Lady Bulldog goalie Liz Clark had six saves.
Coconino, the fourth seed, now faces No. 1 Mingus in one semifinal match while No. 2 Flagstaff faces No. 3 Arcadia in the other.
Three of the four teams in the state semifinals are from the Grand Canyon Region in northern Arizona.
Mingus beat Gila Region champion Palo Verde 2-0 Friday in the other quarterfinal match.
The Mingus, Palo Verde match finished before Douglas’ match was done and the Lady Titans showed a lot of respect for Douglas coming over to where the Lady Bulldogs were playing and cheering on their Gila Regional teammates.
After the heart breaking loss Friday night Douglas’ coach Angelica Chavez said Coconino was a extremely worthy opponent and she was proud to see her girls battle as hard as they did.
The coach said in the post season playoffs someone has to win and someone has to lose and, unfortunately, this time, her squad was on the losing end.
“(I was) so proud to be their coach,” she said. “Girls had a (heck) of a game”
In first round action two nights earlier the Lady Bulldogs beat Paradise Valley 2-1 in a sudden death shootout.
Paradise Valley scored first capitalizing two and a half minutes into the match on a hand ball call against Douglas inside the goalies box which allowed a one-on-one penalty shot between Lady Bulldog goalie Elizabeth Clark and a Paradise Valley player. The PV player scored giving the host team a 1-0 lead.
With 9:54 remaining in the first half Allison Ortega scored for Douglas tying the match at 1-1.
The second half was scoreless as both teams had chances to score but were unable to convert.
Following 20 minutes of scoreless overtime the first round playoff match went to shootout.
Douglas converted two of its five kicks as Ortega and Victoria Mariscal each scored. Paradise Valley also hit two of five moving the shootout to sudden death.
Senior Elise Urquijo, who next year will be playing soccer at Cochise College, scored giving Douglas a 3-2 edge.
Clark then blocked the Paradise Valley shot giving the Lady Bulldogs a thrilling 2-1 sudden death shootout win. Clark would finish the night with seven saves.
Looking back on the season Coach Chavez said her team gave 100 every time it stepped on the field even though they were battered, bruised and injured.
“This speaks highly of their dedication and perseverance,” she said. “They believe in the girls soccer program, our goals, and themselves 100 percent.”
The coach said the defense made up of five players (Victoria Mariscal, Gio Posada, Carley Acosta, Jasmine Hernandez, and Michelle Chavez) has done an outstanding job.
“Second to none,” the coach said.
The mid-field, (Allison Ortega, Elise Urquijo, and Martha LaMadrid) worked together to develop plays in every game this season. Forwards, Lina Campbell and Paulina Ramos kept the pressure on their opponents defense every game sometime for up to 100 minutes.
“And our goalie, Liz Clark, I cannot say enough about our goalie,” Chavez said. “She came up with some saves that left us speechless. I feel we dominated most of the games.”
The coach said overall, she'd say they had a very successful season.
“I would like to congratulate Elise Urquijo, Lina Campbell, and Liz Clark for making the decision to go on and play at the next level,” the coach said. “They have made commitments to play at Cochise College. Our program's success continues to grow.”
Close to a dozen girls from the DHS program have earned scholarships to play at junior colleges in Arizona.
“I attribute much of our success to our coaching staff Mario Romero, Diego Guerrero, and Carlos Chavez,” the coach said. “I'd also like to mention how nice it was to see all of the fans from the Phoenix area, and of course the fans that rode in the rooter bus to come and support the girls. Thank you to DUSD for supporting our student athletes. … (And to) Mr. Mike Ortega who did an outstanding job broadcasting the game to those who could not be there in person and to Howard Henderson for making (the broadcast) possible.”
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