Girls soccer: Perry 2nd-half set piece beats Basha

January 19, 2016 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365



Set pieces haven't been the calling card for Perry girls soccer team, but coach John Roberts says that facet of the Lady Pumas game is getting better.

It was good enough to be the difference Tuesday night as Perry tallied off one in the second half to edge host Basha, 2-1, in a  typical Division I Section I tussle.

Perry improved to 14-2-2 overall and 7-1-1 in power-ranking matches. Digging deeper the Lady Pumas are 5-1 in their section, good enough to have the section lead with one section match to play in its season finale next week. Perry's section currently has six five of the top 11 teams in the power rankings, a section that  also includes Desert Vista, Campo Verde, Corona del Sol , Mountain Pointe and Chandler. Basha fell to 10-4-3 overall, 5-2-2 in prg and 2-2-2 in the section.

"We knew coming in we control our destiny," Perry coach John Roberts said of his team's bid to capture its first section title ever in the sport. "No game in this section is easy, and this was another one."

Perry, fourth in the power rankings as of game time, scored in the 58th minute and this one came via a corner kick. Junior Kelly Cannistra struck a near perfect serve in front of the net and senior Kambree Meskill had the opening needed to head home the victory goal. It was Meskill's 12th goal of the season, tops on a team that has several weapons. Cannistra's assist was her eighth.

"Set pieces are something we've been working hard at," Roberts said. "We're getting better at them. This was our third goal off a set piece in the last two games. We've been working on getting the girls in the right postions. The one twe scored on was perfect."

Perry hasn't had a hard time scoring this season. The Lady Pumas have 63 goals in 18 matches. Five players -- Meskill, Amanda Dahl, Cannistra, Remmi Duetsch and Gina Bracamonte -- have between five and 12 goals. Basha's problem has been scoring. The Lady Bears can hang with anyone, but have 24 goals in 17 matches. Basha's best keeper was injured and not able to play that position.

"This section is tough, part of it the Val Vista corridor," Basha coach Greg Johnson said. "We fought hard. Our keeper tonight (Ashley Grant) is our third stringer. She didn't have much to do, but made a couple of saves for us. This was the most she's played at keeper for us  in a match."