GIRLS SOCCER: Douglas outlasts Palo Verde to win invitational

January 7, 2017 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Douglas (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

Douglas outlasted Palo Verde 3-2 to win the championship of the Palo Verde Invitational held Saturday afternoon. It took 100 minutes of action and a round of PKs for the Bulldogs to end the 24-game home win streak the Titans had coming into the final match.

Palo Verde outshot Douglas 24-to-10 in the championship but Douglas found the net four times in the PK round to win it 4-1. Bulldog goalie Brianna Guzman came up with 10 saves heading into the shootout and it was her 11th stop that helped give her team the win. The sophomore also provided the first score for Douglas in the PK round.

“I’d like to play forward sometime,” Guzman said after the win. “Playing one-on-one against (Jackie) Igulu is really tough. She’s really, really good.”

Guzman put Douglas up 1-0 with a shot to the left and Damariz Miranda did the same to put the Bulldogs up 2-0 after a miss by the Titans. Marilyn McFeaters scored on the right to cut the lead to 2-1 but Crystal Muñoz went high to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead.

Guzman came up with a stop and DeYanira Victor scored to give Douglas the win.

Khadijo Mohamed put Palo Verde up 1-0 in the 20th minute on a pass from Michelle Sigala but Victoria Curfman tied things up with a deep shot in the 26th.

Igulu took an offering from Sigala in the 69th minute to put Palo Verde up 2-1, and it looked like the championship was won, but Kiara Hernandez scored in the final moments off of a mixer as a result of an indirect kick.

The match went to two overtimes as a result of the 2-2 tie.

Igulu now has a state-record 150 goals in her career.

“My defense really helped me today,” Guzman added. “We had a good game”

Palo Verde (12-2) and Douglas (7-5-1) will open up region play against each other on Thursday, Jan. 12.  The two teams belong in the 4A Gila Region.

Canyon del Oro beat Buena 5-1 in the third-place game earlier in the day. Bryanna Newall put the Dorados up 1-0 in the 6th minute; Ashley Clark (Mae Sinclair) put CDO up 2-0 in the 21st; Ariel Conroy put Buena on the board in the 33rd; Amber Keith scored in the 57th; Keith (Sinclair) scored again in the 70th and Sinclair closed out the scoring in the 78th.