Perry claims 5A EV boys soccer title outright with shutout

January 27, 2011 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Perry High tried to douse coach Jim Vanney with a victory bath moments after the Pumas dispatched Westwood in boys soccer Thursday night.

Vanney barely got his jacket wet as the Pumas' aim was poor. It was one of the rare times Perry misfired.

A four-goal flurry in the first half was plenty good as Perry wrapped up the 5A East Valley Region title with a 6-0 pasting of the visiting Warriors.

"I was a little worried with it being Senior Night that  the focus might not be there," Vanney said. "We got some goals early. It made for a nice night."

Perry improved to 15-4-1 for the season and ran the table in region play with a 6-0 mark. The Pumas should head into the 5A-II state tournament next week no worse than the No. 5 seed. It's the second region title for Perry. The Pumas boys won a 4A East Sky Region title two years ago.

Helping Perry's cause mightily Thursday was sophomore forward Niyi Soetan. Soetan, who has been batltling illness the last week and missed Tuesday's 2-1 win over Desert Ridge, finished the night with a hat trick.

After teammate Arturo Molina scored the match's first goal in the seventh minute, Soetan tallied on a header off a corner kick two minutes later. Soetan scored his second goal in the 19th minute. It took just four more minutes for Perry's lead to rise to 4-0 on a goal by Spencer Chinchen. That's the lead the Pumas took to intermission. Soetan notched his third goal in the 62nd minute. Cody Weisenberger finished the scoring for Perry. 

Westwood (15-8, (4-2) figured to deliver a more spirited match given the Warriors had already qualified for the 5A-I state tournament for the first time since 2005 and would have gained at least a share of the region title had they prevailed. Poor play in the back from the Warriors gave Perry the opportune chances it converted on. Westwood entered the match 10th in the 5A-I power-rankings.

Perry finished the season with six consecutive wins and head to the state playoffs for the third time in as many varsity seasons. The Pumas have reached the quarterfinals each of the previous two years.

"We're playing well," Vanney said. "We gave up one goal in the region games. That was the other night early when we were sleep walking the first 10 minutes. Next it's the first of four. It's a new season. We will enjoy this, take (Friday) off and go back to work Saturday."