Soccer: Highland boys, Desert Vista girls win at Coyote Classic

December 12, 2015 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Desert Vista's girls completed a perfect tournament and Highland's boys spread the goal-scoring wealth on Saturday in securing titles at the 2nd annual Coyote Classic Soccer Invitational at Campo Verde High School.

Desert Vista completed the weeklong tournament with a 5-0 record, capped by a 2-0 championship match win over Desert Mountain. Add in a power-ranking-game-game victory two days ago, the Thunder are 6-0 and have outscored opponents to date 33-0. 

Coach Marvin Hypolite's team proved its mettle Saturday with strong second halfs in its semifinal and final match. The Thunder scored all five of its goals after intermission in the semis over Perry and tallied twice after the break in dowing Desert Mountain. In both matches Desert Vista's relentless play served to wear down foes, who know giving up a goal could be lethal against the defensive-minded Thunder.

Desert Vista broke the scoreless tie in the 61st minute, scoring on what has been a patented corner kick. Izzy Deutsch sent the corner and Olivia  "Olive" Jones tallied with a header. Deutsch added the insurance goal in the 71st minute on a penalty kick. The PK was setup by Jones' hustle down the left sideline to track down a long pass in the corner. Jones saved it there, dribbled past the pressing defender and then drew a foul in the box.

Both Perry and Desert Mountain had limited chances to score against Desert Vista. Each, however, had a good one in the first half of their matches they failed to convert. Desert Vista has given up just two goals in its last 18 matches dating back to last January. One of those goals was in the Division I title match in double-overtime against Highland that beat the Thunder, 1-0.

Desert Vista got goals in its semfinal win over Perry from Lauren Schooler (2), Jones, Carly Bych and Tatum Heeres. Desert Mountain, which finished the tournament 4-1, and is 5-3 overall beat Gilbert in the semifinals, 2-1. Parker Caudle and Taylor Brown scored for Desert Mountain, with Brown's goal proving the difference after a goal by Gilbert's Reagan Robbers in the 78th minute.

Highland, the only team in either the boys or girls semifinals to advance that far with one loss, enjoyed a solid day. The Hawks upended last year's tournament champion and D-I state champ - Chandler High -- 2-0 in the semis. Braxton Hatch's header and Donovan Cameron's goal eight minutes apart in the second half earned Highland a shot at tourney host Campo Verde. Highland claimed the championship with ease, scoring five times in the first half on the way to a 6-1 win over Campo Verde.
 
Highland coach Rich Esperti saw his team improve to 6-1 on the season with its wins on Saturday. All seven matches took place in the last eight days. Scoring in the romp over Camp Verde were Hunter Figueroa (2), Jaron Peterson, Jalen Shatswell, McKay Erickson and Trevor Ortega.

Campo Verde coach Drew Guarneri opted to rest his starters in the final. The Coyotes did the same last year in finishing runner-up to Chandler. Both this year and last Campo Verde played a match on Friday (1-1 tie with Corona del Sol) to qualify for the semis and then went overtime in the semis to nab a spot in the finals. Add  having to play a power-ranking match on Monday, Guarneri opted to rest his first unit.

"Same as last year,"" Guarneri said. "We had two difficult matches back-to-back, and I felt our guys needed some rest. We got to play guys who don't get a lot of time, and it was good experience for them. Doing that last year helped us for this year. The power-ranking games are important. I want our guys as healthy and rested as possible."

Campo Verde (4-2-1) won its semifinal match, 4-3, in overtime over South Mountain -- the most excitiing match of the six played on Saturday. The teams were tied 1-1 at half, 2-2 after regulation and 3-3 after the first 10-minute overtime. Campo Verde won on Luke Gleadle's hat trick in the 92nd minute. All three of Gleadle's goals were assisted on nearly identical plays by Ethan Willson. Brandon Martinez scored Camp Verde's other goal, which tied the match at 3. Martinez scored Campo's only goal in the final against Highland. South Mountain got two goals from Angel Torres and a goal and an assist from Bryan Medina in the loss to Campo Verde.