Boys soccer: Campo Verde subdues Independence

January 16, 2019 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Campo Verde's Jorge Chavez (19) watches his breakaway sail top shelf in the Coyotes' 2-0 victory over Independence. (AzPreps365 photo)

Jorge Chavez enjoyed another fine outing in what has been a solid season for the Campo Verde forward-midfielder.

Chavez figured in both Campo goals on Tuesday afternoon-evening helping the No. 7 Coyotes to a 2-0 triumph over No. 6 Independence at Campo Verde.

Campo Verde, the defending 5A state champs, notched win No. 15 against two losses as it reached the halfway point of its power-ranking schedule. Campo is 5-1 in those matches with its lone defeat coming in overtime against No. 1 Carl Hayden just before Christmas. Independence has played well in producing an 11-3-1 mark to date. The Patriots dropped their second consecutive match to drop and are 5-2 in power-ranking matches. Their other loss was 1-0 to No. 4 Ironwood last week. They have their five region matches remaining.

In a match that seemed certain to be played in showers to heavy rain and yet evaded precipitation, Campo tallied both goals in the first half just in case the heavens opened up. Chavez churned his way to what amounted to a breakaway down the right side in the 17th minute. He beat Independence keeper Jason Rodriguez for a 1-0 edge.

Chavez, a sophomore who got ample seasoning a year ago for the state champs, assisted on the other goal. Kyler Curry started the scoring play finding Chavez. Chavez then led senior forward Shawn McGarvin with a nice ball in stride just outside the box and McGarvin did the rest  manuevering around Rodriguez and rolling it home from about eight yards out in the 37th minute. Chavez leads Campo in scoring (8 goals) and assists (11). McGarvin's goal was his fourth.

Campo received solid play defensively helping keeper Jacob Zimmerman from harms way the bulk of the match. Zimmerman collected five saves in registering the shutout - his ninth of the season.

"We played very well in the first half," Campo Verde coach Drew Guarneri said. "The second half we played well enough to win. A few things we have to clean up. We gave up the ball more than I like in the second half. We were more in a defending mode and they were pushing numbers trying to score goals so that's a combination that played out."

Campo Verde plays its final non-region match on Saturday taking on Ironwood Ridge on the road. The Nighthawks served up Campo's only other loss in a post-Christmas tournament hosted by Ironwood Ridge. Independence next begins Desert West Region play Jan. 22 hosting Willow Canyon.